Boosting border trade

Export activities through border gates and checkpoints in Quang Ninh province have shown stability and annual growth. These bright spots in border trade contribute positively to the friendly and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and China.

Cửa khẩu quốc tế Móng Cái. (Nguồn: Thanh Niên)

Mong Cai International Border Gate. (Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper)

Besides the effective operation of the Van Don - Mong Cai expressway, the efforts of functional forces at border gates have helped import and export activities in Quang Ninh province to flourish. According to the Quang Ninh Department of Industry and Trade, export activities through border gates and checkpoints in the province have been stable and have shown steady growth in recent years.

Comprehensive cooperation platform

Data from the Quang Ninh Provincial Department of Industry and Trade shows that the total value of goods exported from the province over the past two and a half years (2021 - the first six months of 2023) is estimated at 6,784 million USD, an average increase of 9.7% per year (exceeding the target set in Action Program No. 01-CTR/TU, which projected an average increase of 5-7% per year for the 2021-2025 period).

According to the Quang Ninh Provincial Customs Department, after becoming operational in September 2022, the Van Don-Mong Cai expressway has brought many advantages to the province's import and export activities, such as: connecting with land border gates, facilitating trade between the Chinese market and ASEAN countries; connecting the chain of international border gates with the province's economic zones such as Mong Cai, Van Don, and Quang Yen; connecting logistics services to the Quang Ninh-Hai Phong seaport system; connecting the axis of major cities Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh and the economic space and coastal economic corridor of the northern coastal region.

In particular, the reduction in travel time from Mong Cai City to Ha Long City to just 1 hour and 30 minutes (compared to three hours via National Highway 18), and the decrease in travel time from Hanoi to Mong Cai to just three hours, has significantly shortened transportation time and reduced associated costs.

Following China's downgrading of its COVID-19 prevention and control measures in January 2023, thousands of tons of goods were cleared through customs, a significant increase compared to the same period in 2022. Notably, traffic congestion at border crossings has ceased, and vehicles carrying imported and exported goods to and from Vietnam are generally processed for entry into China on the same day.

Import and export activities through border gates and checkpoints have remained largely uninterrupted, creating a sense of security and a stable long-term business environment for enterprises involved in import and export.

Forecasts for 2023 indicate that economic and trade cooperation, tourism, and business activities between enterprises and border residents will develop, and the volume of import and export goods and vehicles entering and exiting through border gates and checkpoints will grow again, especially for seafood and agricultural products.

Simultaneously, Quang Ninh province is striving to create the most favorable conditions for export businesses. Border gates are proactively implementing solutions to maximize convenience for businesses. Customs branches are promoting administrative procedure reforms towards transparency, convenience, ease of implementation, and reducing customs clearance time and costs for businesses, aiming to enhance competitiveness, encourage investment and production, and attract businesses to conduct import and export procedures.

In the coming period, to further boost import and export activities, the Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee will continue to focus on attracting, creating favorable conditions, and expediting procedures for investors to build warehouse and storage facilities in the province, as well as logistics zones in the Border Economic Zones (Hoanh Mo - Dong Van, Bac Phong Sinh, Mong Cai) according to the approved planning and design, ensuring that projects are implemented on schedule and are commensurate with the scale and operational capacity of the border gates and crossings; upgrading, renovating, and expanding roads to facilitate transportation connecting the Hoanh Mo and Bac Phong Sinh border gate areas with logistics zones, goods inspection locations, and bonded warehouses…

In the plan, the province will accelerate the implementation of the planning, expand the scope of border gates at Hoành Mô, Bắc Phong Sinh, and Móng Cái (Bắc Luân II bridge) to ensure import and export activities; and promote planning and completion of logistics infrastructure, inland container depots (ICDs), and duty-free shops in the area.

Model border gate

Mong Cai is the only international border city in the country with both land and sea borders with China. In recent years, border trade has always been a highlight in the cooperative relationship between Mong Cai and Dongxing City (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China).

In 2021, despite the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, import and export turnover through this border gate still reached over 4 billion USD, an increase of 46%; in 2022, the total volume of import and export goods reached 1 million tons, import and export turnover was nearly 3.3 billion USD, and state budget revenue was nearly 1,650 billion VND, the highest ever.

According to statistics, in early September 2023, an average of nearly 220 vehicles carrying import and export goods passed through the Bac Luan II border gate and the Km3+4 Hai Yen border crossing each day.

Following China's reopening of its borders at the beginning of 2023, import and export activities, as well as cross-border movement between Mong Cai (Vietnam) and Dongxing (China), have continuously grown. By the end of August, the total value of import and export goods reached over 2.2 billion USD (an increase of approximately 5%); state budget revenue exceeded 1,000 billion VND (an increase of approximately 8%) compared to the same period in 2022.

Economic and trade cooperation across the border has always been one of the key areas that Mong Cai City and Dongxing City have focused on promoting. The recent signs of recovery in border trade further strengthen bilateral relations, aiming towards establishing a pilot mechanism for a Vietnam-China cross-border economic cooperation zone as directed by the central government.

Information from the Mong Cai Border Gate Customs Branch indicates: “The Quang Ninh Provincial Customs Department annually maintains a ‘two countries, four parties’ dialogue. At the branch level, the Mong Cai Border Gate Customs actively invites Dongxing Customs to exchange and discuss ways to overcome difficulties. In response, Nanning and Dongxing are also very enthusiastic and responsible in discussions, clearly and transparently offering solutions to help both sides promote effective import and export activities in the future.”

The increasingly improved import-export infrastructure, transparent administrative procedures, and enhanced product quality meeting the standards of the "billion-person" market are crucial "keys." However, the solid foundation for trade cooperation lies in the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and China, which the Mong Cai City Party Committee and government have inherited and developed year after year. Specifically, to concretize the two Parties' and two States' policy of "building a peaceful, friendly, stable, and prosperous border," Quang Ninh and Guangxi, and Mong Cai and Dongxing, Fangcheng have continuously engaged in activities to establish mechanisms for friendly exchanges, discussions, and mutual support.

Mr. Hoang Ba Nam, Secretary of the Mong Cai City Party Committee, affirmed: "The contribution to the growth of import and export, and entry and exit through the Mong Cai border gate area has been significantly influenced by cooperation, solidarity, friendship, and especially the strategic trust of both sides in implementing socio-economic development tasks and ensuring national defense and security. We are united in action to build the Mong Cai border gate area in Quang Ninh into a model border gate within the national border gate system."

In particular, the Mong Cai Border Economic Zone (including Mong Cai City and part of Hai Ha District) has been identified by the Prime Minister as a national key area, an important economic development center of the Northern region, of the Northern coastal economic belt, and the Kunming (China)-Hanoi-Hai Phong-Mong Cai-Fangcheng (China) economic corridor (according to Decision No. 368/QD-TTg approving the Adjustment of the General Planning for the Construction of the Mong Cai Border Economic Zone until 2040).

According to the master plan approved by the Prime Minister, Mong Cai City has allocated 1,300 hectares of land bordering Dongxing City (China) and situated between the Bac Luan II border gate and the access road and Bac Luan III bridge. This area is directly connected to the Van Don-Mong Cai expressway, facilitating trade connections and leveraging its geographical advantages to expand cooperation, attract investment, promote trade, high-tech processing and manufacturing, and foster exchanges and cooperation with businesses and partners in Dongxing.

The prospects for the cross-border economic cooperation zone here continue to accelerate economic growth, contributing increasingly effectively to the economic development of Quang Ninh province and the comprehensive friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

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