China top trade partner of Vietnam: Vietnamese official

[beijingwalker]

China is bleeding Vietnam dry running an increasingly huge bilateral trade surplus against Vietnam for decades. The whole Vietnamese economic structure totally depends on China and will be even more so in the future.

 

[TaiShang]

LOL, it seems that it is the Americans who are getting the back end of the carrot here.

They think they will use Viet Nam to contain China, and then, here all along Viet Nam was / is economically so beholden onto China....LOL!

*laughing as drinking coffee*

They say democracies do not fight. I would say Communists with a high degree of economic exchange and trade do not, fight, either. If the US thinks they can utilize the old divide and rule paradigm on us, they are wrong. That's probably for this reason that (neither Vietnam nor China takes the first step of aggression), the US feels it has to stick its nose and disturb the waters by sending aircraft and vessels in a provocative way.

The US would in fact like to sit out and watch the show but we apparently do not give them what they want.

I think the area is disputed territory . Depends on the vantage point you're coming from. You are Vietnamese, hence you will see it in the Vietnamese perspective ; the Filipinos see it in theirs, the Chinese in theirs, the Malasians , the Bruneians ....

It's a complex situation, bro.

That explains well. It is not a situation of China vs. the rest. It is each vs. each. It is multi-actor and multilateral. The starting point of understanding the dispute must be to recognize this fact. If China suddenly dislocates the SCS, the conflict will not evaporate. It will probably boil over.

Anyways, it is very apparent that the ground reality reflects the opinion of Chinese members and friends here, not of Vietnamese members and other China-haters.

Normally, if there was really a dispute and enmity, the bilateral trade should have dropped dramatically.

 

[Dungeness]

banana is symbolic of trade deals, is it not?

Those territories that Vietnam claims to be encroached upon are coincidentally claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and China, however. These are disputed territories and this should be treated accordingly.

View attachment 297283

That's hilarious! Some slickers, that's why I said Pinoys are not match to Vietnamese.

 

[TaiShang]

That's hilarious! Some slickers, that's why I said Pinoys are not match to Vietnamese.

I would say Vietnamese government is more strategic minded and realistic than the Philippines government.

Vietnam can hit more strongly than its actual size, which is not the case for the Philippines.

China is probably better versed into Vietnam's way than that of the Philippines.

 

[vtnsx]

Obviously, they were once friends and now foe. Simple

 

[Tiqiu]

Sometimes I couldn't help myself from drawing a parallel line from PDF and patriotic posters herein to boxing ring and MMA fighters. Like those fighters in the ring, we all tried to throw whatever we have got to our components for a mortal wound for the sake of ourselves' egoism. Do we have the mandate from the countries we are rooting for? Hardly yes. Are we going to be devoted our whole life solely for this course and not caring other aspects of life like gladiators? Most likely not. I think most people across the globe, just like those silent majorities, are caring more about how to put food on the family tables, how to create opportunities to their children and so on in daily life.

Perhaps that explains why in real life people of different backgrounds can get along but not on the military forum on the net. I have been to dozens of countries including India, Indonesia and Philippines and met numerous people, an absolute majorities of them were life-loving people and economic oriented. I have asked the people I met about the idea of boycotting the goods from certain countries, and the answers i got were LOL. For normal people, who are not so-called "financial independent" thus have to work hard to improve the livelihood of theirs and families', economics are far more important than politics and foreign policies.

Based on this world view, China has conducted vibrant trade and infrastructure investment with all countries, be it friend nations like Russia/Pakistan, or potential adversaries like the US, India or Vietnam. Contrary to what some people have been advocating for - A relies B, or B can destroy A, trade benefits both sides. Adam Smith saw it , he wrote "the wealth of nations"; the people saw it, the people using wallets voted China the No,1 trading partner for 124 counties (by 2014) plus more including the US and Vietnam.

The higher form of trade is investment such as infrastructure investment mentioned herein in this article.

Continue from the above - unfinished

The higher form of trade is investment such as infrastructure investment mentioned herein in this article. Investment of all sorts, especially those for infrastructure building, have an extra dimensions apart from economic benefit. It will also promote goodwill among normal people of the investor and investee. I remember once an local cab drive drove me passing an old under-path bridge near Makati in Manila, he told me with pride that Japan built it. For normal citizens, what they see and use everyday speaks louder than empty words.

Thus I think China is on the right track.

 

[Kyle Sun]

Vietnam needs to suffer what we have suffered before they get the position where we are.

Even now CN is still suffering some pain.

 

[Viet]

@TaiShang @Arryn @Viet @Jlaw @bbccdd1470 @Tiqiu

that is a huge gap between the two statistic. China´s $95.82 billion figure may include smuggler activities?

 

[sweetgrape]

Every one can feel its harder when selling CN products in VN cos VN is preparing for TPP in 2018.

We will bag our head in 2020 if trade deficit with CN still too high

Oh, seems you need bag, can import from China

And high? how high? can give us a firm figure, we mark it, if you fail, don't forget to broadcast you bagging you head

 

[Viet]

China is bleeding Vietnam dry running an increasingly huge bilateral trade surplus against Vietnam for decades. The whole Vietnamese economic structure totally depends on China and will be even more so in the future.

you should look at the broader picture. true, VN runs huge deficit with China, but we have huge surplus with America. so it is not as bad as it seems. moreover, while China starts this year with collapsing export (-25%), we record +3% in export. you see the difference?

our trade surplus with the world reaches nearly $1 billion in the first 2 months. and although many factories were closed during the Tet festival.

Exports contribute to Vietnam trade surplus 2016

 

[Carlosa]

you should look at the broader picture. true, VN runs huge deficit with China, but we have huge surplus with America. so it is not as bad as it seems. moreover, while China starts this year with collapsing export (-25%), we record +3% in export. you see the difference?

our trade surplus with the world reaches nearly $1 billion in the first 2 months. and although many factories were closed during the Tet festival.

Exports contribute to Vietnam trade surplus 2016

Vietnam's trade deficit with China is totally ok, it makes sense and it will continue as such and it should.
Its basic economics. China is the supply chain for Vietnam's industry and export machine.
Vietnam buys the supplies from China, process them / use them and reexports the stuff making the money from the EU, USA, etc where Vietnam has a massive account surplus.

Its as simple as that, just economics and it does not imply any type of political partnership.
In fact, Vietnam is trying to diversify its supply chain and buy more from India and others and with the TPP rules requiring the use of supplies from TPP partners, the dependence on the chinese supply chain will be lessened.

When someone says that China is bleeding Vietnam dry because of the trade balance, such person only shows that it doesn't have a clue about economics.

 

[Viet]

Vietnam's trade deficit with China is totally ok, it makes sense and it will continue as such and it should.
Its basic economics. China is the supply chain for Vietnam's industry and export machine.
Vietnam buys the supplies from China, process them / use them and reexports the stuff making the money from the EU, USA, etc where Vietnam has a massive account surplus.

Its as simple as that, just economics and it does not imply any type of political partnership.
In fact, Vietnam is trying to diversify its supply chain and buy more from India and others and with the TPP rules requiring the use of supplies from TPP partners, the dependence on the chinese supply chain will be lessened.

When someone says that China is bleeding Vietnam dry because of the trade balance, such person only shows that it doesn't have a clue about economics.

exactly. our free trade pacts with America (TPP) and EU are means to reduce imports from China, expanding overseas markets. heavy reliance on a single trade partner makes us too vulnerable to political blackmail. so I expect we will see future growth rate of trades with China declining from actual 30% a year to 10%. with trade norms such as rule of origin, even Chinese businesses will open garment factories in VN to benefit from VN trade pacts.

 

[Carlosa]

exactly. our free trade pacts with America (TPP) and EU are means to reduce imports from China, expanding overseas markets. heavy reliance on a single trade partner makes us too vulnerable to political blackmail. so I expect we will see future growth rate of trades with China declining from actual 30% a year to 10%. with trade norms such as rule of origin, even Chinese businesses will open garment factories in VN to benefit from VN trade pacts.

Absolutely, many of those chinese suppliers are going to have to set up shop in Vietnam (as they are already doing) or they are going to lose the business, simple as that.

 

[Rechoice]

What's more, Chinese authorities counted 95.82 billion U.S. dollars Sino-Vietnam trade in 2015, instead of Vietnam's figure of over 66 billion U.S. dollars.

 

[AViet]

Vietnam's trade deficit with China is totally ok, it makes sense and it will continue as such and it should.
Its basic economics. China is the supply chain for Vietnam's industry and export machine.
Vietnam buys the supplies from China, process them / use them and reexports the stuff making the money from the EU, USA, etc where Vietnam has a massive account surplus.

Its as simple as that, just economics and it does not imply any type of political partnership.
In fact, Vietnam is trying to diversify its supply chain and buy more from India and others and with the TPP rules requiring the use of supplies from TPP partners, the dependence on the chinese supply chain will be lessened.

When someone says that China is bleeding Vietnam dry because of the trade balance, such person only shows that it doesn't have a clue about economics.

Basically you are right, but let take a closer look and make a simple analysis. Some of biggest export items from Vietnam are:

1. Mobile phones: almost all components are imported from China and no one can replace them, even in next 20 years. Components from other countries, aside from China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan (some still from the US) are almost non existent, and even many so-called electronic equipment made-in-A,B,C countries are actually assembled with components from these 4 countries. Developing such complex manufacturing chains will take decades, even in fast-changing countries like China or Taiwan, not to mention about their excellent workforce quality.

2. Garment and clothes: made with textiles and components imported from China, and again, no one can replace them, even in next 20 years. For example, China produces around 60% of polyester worldwide, and quality of its textiles are top-notched.

3. Leather goods: again, with leather imported from China. Can any other country replace them. I guess not, even in next 100 years. China have temperate climate, which is good for leather. India, for most of its parts, do not have such luxury to produce high-quality leather. Other are too small and too far away, or too expensive to compete.

4. Electronic products: again, with components from China, Taiwan or Korea, like the item 1..