China-Vietnam bilateral trade volume hits record high in 2024

Recently, according to statistics from the Vietnamese Customs, Vietnam’s imports and exports of goods to China reached US$205.2 billion in 2024, a record high in bilateral trade between the two countries, an increase of US$33.3 billion from 2023. China has become Vietnam’s first trading partner with a scale of more than US$200 billion. At the same time, China has maintained its position as Vietnam’s largest trading partner for more than 20 consecutive years.

According to statistics, Vietnam exported about US$61.2 billion to China in 2024, a decrease of about US$100 million from 2023. Imports from China reached US$144 billion, an increase of US$33.35 billion from 2023, an increase of 30.1%. The trade deficit with China was US$82.8 billion (US$49.3 billion in 2023), and China continued to be Vietnam’s largest supplier of means of production and the largest trading partner, accounting for 26% of Vietnam’s total imports and exports.

Most of the goods Vietnam imports from China are necessities, including machinery, equipment, tools, parts and raw materials for domestic production and export; the goods exported to China are mainly mineral resources and agricultural products.

In 2023, the import and export volume of goods between China and Vietnam was US$171.9 billion. Among them, Vietnam exported US$61.2 billion to China, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%, accounting for 17.3% of Vietnam’s total exports; imports from China were about US$110.6 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 6.6%, accounting for 33.9% of Vietnam’s total imports.

In recent years, despite the sluggish global trade situation, Vietnam’s imports and exports to China have continued to grow strongly. The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade said that based on bilateral cooperation agreements and multilateral trade agreements such as the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), there is still a lot of room for growth in trade between Vietnam and China.