Border port witnesses booming China-Vietnam trade

NANNING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Upon arrival at Youyiguan, or Friendship Pass, on the China-Vietnam border, visitors are greeted by the pungent odor of durian.

Though the peak season for selling durian is over, customs officials at the pass are still busy handling these thorny fruits from Vietnam upon their entrance into China's sprawling market.

Fruit-loaded trucks and self-organized tourists are now common sights at Youyiguan Port, China's main gateway to Vietnam located in the city of Pingxiang, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Established in the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), the pass boasts a history of more than 2,000 years. Barbettes that once defended the port are now scenic spots, while officials there welcome goods and tourists with speed and streamlined procedures.

"Our inspections are strict, but we also have services such as bookings for 24/7 clearance and quick lab tests to greatly shorten the passage time for fruits imported from ASEAN members," said Huang Feifei, a customs official at the port.

Notably, a clearance can be completed within as little as 15 seconds at this port. "All we need to do is a scan of our faces and fingerprints," a truck driver told Xinhua.

Officials said the port had handled 310,000 vehicles passing through it as of Aug. 22 -- marking yearly growth of around 20 percent. Apart from streams of trucks, cross-border tourists are also showing up in larger numbers.

The port's hustle and bustle testifies to the booming economic links between China and Vietnam, with the two countries having ramped up cooperation in terms of trade and infrastructure to dock the Belt and Road Initiative with Vietnam's Two Corridors and One Economic Circle strategy.

China has also become Vietnam's main durian export market after Vietnamese durians, known for their longer harvest season and lower prices, gained market access to China under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) framework in 2022.

According to China's Ministry of Commerce, annual trade value between China and Vietnam surpassed 200 billion U.S. dollars over the past three years, a huge jump from 2.4 billion U.S. dollars back in 2000.

In the first seven months of 2024, bilateral trade reached 145 billion U.S. dollars, marking an annual increase of 20.9 percent.

The trade boom has also been fueled by an online shopping spree in recent years. A few miles away in a cross-border e-commerce center, Vietnamese-speaking anchors are advertising Chinese-made cosmetics and garments via live broadcasts.

During the mid-year promotional season in July, one live broadcast held at the center saw orders soaring to 6 million yuan (843,000 U.S. dollars). Within two days after orders are placed, these goods can arrive in distribution centers in Vietnam thanks to fast-tracked clearance at the border pass, according to the center.

"Cross-border e-commerce is the new order of the day. It is injecting new vitality into the economy of the border areas," said Zhou Yunbiao, director of Pingxiang's service center for e-commerce development.