HCM City (VNA) – Thanks tocultural and cuisine similarities and geographical proximity, China has been a keymarket of Vietnamese farm produce for many years, but enterprises need to takea new approach in the market today, said an official.

Nguyen Quoc Toan, acting head of theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Department of Farm ProduceProcessing and Development, said manufacturing must meet standards and tastesof consumers while focusing on packaging and processing to increase the valueof Vietnamese farm produce.

Economic and Commercial Counsellor at theChinese Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City Wei Xichen said China hasexpanded imports to meet increasing demand and has become the world’s largestimporter of farm produce in recent years. Its farm produce import now accountsfor one tenth of the world’s total with annual average growth of 8.8 percent.

He pointed out that most of Vietnam’sexports to China are via cross-border channels, so they lack trademarks, and Vietnameseexporters don’t fully understand the Chinese consumption market.

Wei said the State must study the market,grasp its development trends and issue guidelines on agricultural production.

He suggested Vietnamese firms partner withChinese e-commerce giants to open online outlets and provide farm produce fornew supermarkets.

Last year, Vietnam earned 3.5 billion USDfrom exports of vegetables and fruits, 76 percent of which was earned inChina.-VNA