Vietnam’s trade deficit with China rose to USD17.6 billion in the first four months of this year, which was the highest figure in the past three years, according to the latest report from the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
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The figure shows an increase of over 75% on-year and of more than 665% compared to the same period of 2019.
During the period, Vietnam imported USD33.9 billion worth of commodities from China, which was an increase of USD11 billion against the same period last year, and up USD20 billion compared to the first four months figure of 2019, the department said.
Meanwhile the country's export value to China fell to USD16 billion.
According to the department's report, Vietnam mainly imported machinery, equipment and spare parts (worth USD7.45 billion), computers and components (over USD6.3 billion), chemicals (USD800 million), and steel (USD920 million) from China.
Notably, garment, textile and footwear materials saw an impressive growth rate among the raw material imports used in production activities.
The import turnover of fabrics from China reached USD2.68 billion, an annual rise of USD680 million, while textile, garment and leather raw materials had a turnover of over USD1 billion, up by more than USD300 million against same period from 2020 and 2019.
The increase in input material imports means the textile, leather and footwear sectors are on the road to recovery following the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on export orders.
The high import value also indicates the heavy reliance of local firms on the supply source of raw materials from China.
At present, Vietnam is mainly importing phone and computer components, machinery and equipment from China, thereby accounting for 80% of total import turnover.