HANOI: Vietnam’s trade deficit with China continues to widen in the first two months of 2015, Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade said.
Specifically, in the two-month period, Vietnam spent US$7.482 billion importing goods from China while earning US$2.312 billion from exports to the market, resulting in a trade deficit of US$5.17 billion with China. The deficit was US$2.8 billion higher than that of the same period in 2014, the Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center under the ministry said on its website.
Vietnam mainly exports raw material, such as rubber latex, coal, minerals, to China while importing finished products including tires and steel from the market, the center said.
As domestic capacity of producing consumer goods fails to meet local demand, Vietnamese companies must import raw material and accessories from other countries such as China, which have an abundant supply for a reasonable price, Bui Huy Son, head of the ministry’s Trade Promotion Agency on Vietnam Plus, was quoted by the state-run news agency VNA as saying.
In 2012, Vietnam’s import revenue from China hit US$28.784 billion, which rose to US$36.937 billion in 2013 and US$43.867 billion in 2014, said the center.
