Trade deficit with China grows wider

The situation is not new however. The recently released figure predicts 2015 will result in a year-on-year increase of 29 per cent. The $28.9 billion deficit in 2014 was 21.8 per cent larger than that of 2013.

Independent economic expert Nguyen Tri Hieu, who holds a PhD in business management, told Viet Nam News that the deficit in trade with China has existed for many years and keeps growing.

"Cheaper prices are one of the key reasons behind the widening trade deficit, particularly when China decides to devaluate its currency. Made-in-China products are then imported into Viet Nam with cheaper prices, leading to a sharp increase in the amount of goods imported from China into the country," he said.

Viet Nam has increasingly imported from China over recent years, rising from $28.78 billion in 2012 to $43.86 billion in 2014. The ministry forecasts that the figure could reach $35 billion this year.

The country's total import turnover from China so far this year is $32.7 billion, which is 29.8 per cent of the country's total imports, reported Nguyen Tien Vy, head of the ministry's Department of Planning.

Viet Nam's main imports from China are machinery, equipment, steel and fertiliser and exports crude oil, telephones and parts, rubber, rice, fruit, vegetables, seafood, minerals and raw materials.

A report from the ministry revealed that total export of a number of products such as rice, rubber and fisheries of Viet Nam dropped drastically over the past few months, one of key reasons being China's across the board reduction of Vietnamese products.

Hieu explained some of the attractiveness of Chinese products, one being the countries' geographical proximity, which creates favourable and diverse conditions for transportation.

"Meanwhile, the devaluation of China's yuan has created more difficulties for Vietnamese exporters as Vietnamese products become more expensive in China's market," he said.

It should also be noted that a decline of China's economy led to a decrease in China's import demand from other countries, which included Viet Nam, he said

"China's growth rate was reported at 7 per cent. However, a study done by experts' revealed that the figure could drop to 4-5 per cent," he added.

He stressed that the widening deficit in trade would create a growing dependency of the national economy on China which remains Viet Nam's biggest import market.

The ministry reported that Viet Nam's total trade deficit for this year now stands at $3.6 billion, contributed by a large $200,000 deficit in August alone.

In order to narrow the deficit, the Government issued a plan on export market development for 2020. Vy from the Planning Department said it aims for an average annual export growth rate of 11 to 12 per cent to achieve $300 billion in export value by 2020.

Under the plan, Viet Nam will consolidate and expand market shares in its traditional markets in the Southeast and Northeast Asian regions, Australia and growing western frontiers.

The nation, however, will also focus on new markets with high potential in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America to reduce dependence on some key export markets.

Vy added that the Government encouraged improving export efficiency of products to markets with signed Free Trade Agreements with Viet Nam.