HANOI: Around 30,000 tons of Vietnamese rice exports to China have been stuck at border gates amid efforts by Chinese authorities to tighten checks along the border.
The sale and purchase of rice between Vietnamese suppliers and Chinese buyers have taken place in a way like in a market where buyers and sellers exchange goods for money, without any agreement reached before.In addition, the sale of goods has been made not only at border gates but also at any ‘trail’ linking the two nations along their hundreds of kilometers of land border.
So, those ‘secondary’ border gates can be closed anytime for security issue, which puts a stop to the trading activities along the border.30,000 tons of rice under sunlight and rainHundreds of trucks fully loaded with rice have stayed motionless in areas around different such ‘secondary’ border gates in the northern Vietnamese province of Lao Cai in the last ten days.
According to the Ban Quan border guard unit in Lao Cai’s Bao Thang District, Chinese buyers have stopped importing rice from Vietnam in the last two weeks because their authorities have tightened checks along the border.
The Lao Cai Department of Industry and Trade reported that Chinese buyers need no certificate of quality so Vietnamese traders rush to carry rice toward the border with China for export.Now, the total amount of rice stuck in Lao Cai reaches some 30,000 tons which face the risk of decay, the department said.
Le Ngoc Hung, deputy chairman of the Lao Cai People’s Committee, said he has reported the problem to the central government.He added that Lao Cai has signed initial agreements with Chinese authorities to open four more border gates in Lung Po, Ban Quan, Na Loc, and another unidentified site to lift the blockade for Vietnamese rice to enter China.
