(VOVWORLD) - Economic collaboration and border trade are focal areas of bilateral ties between Mong Cai city in Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province and Dongxing city of China’s Guangxi province. Recent recovery of border trade has further solidified the bond between the two regions toward establishing a pilot mechanism for a Vietnam-China cross-border economic collaboration zone.
 Mong Cai city, the core of Mong Cai Border Gate Economic Zone (Photo: Truong Giang)
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Mong Cai is the only locality in Vietnam that has both land and sea borders with China. Border trade between Mong Cai and Dongxing city has grown steadily in recent years.
In early September, an average of 220 vehicles a day transporting goods cross through the Bac Luan II border gate and the Km3+4 Hai Yen entry point in Mong Cai city, Quang Ninh province.
Following China's border reopening earlier this year, trade and immigration activities between Mong Cai and Dongxing have increased steadily.
By the end of August, total import-export turnover reached more than 2.2 billion USD, up 5% from last year.
Pham Van Minh, Deputy Director of the Mong Cai Border Gate Customs Sub-Department, said that the Quang Ninh province Customs Department holds a talk called ‘Two countries and four administrations’ annually.
“At the Sub-Department level, we’ve invited Dongxing Customs to hold talks to discuss ways to remove difficulties. The Chinese side is very enthusiastic and responsible in putting forth solutions for both sides to jointly increase import and export activities in the coming time,” said Minh.
The Mong Cai Border Gate Economic Zone, including Mong Cai city and part of Hai Ha district, has been identified as a key border gate economic zone and an important economic development center of the northern region, the northern coastal economic belt, and the Kunming - Hanoi - Hai Phong - Mong Cai - Fangcheng economic corridor.
The Zone, fully equipped with transportation infrastructure, directly connects with a 570-kilometer highway from Lao Cai to Hanoi, Hai Phong, Ha Long, Van Don, and Mong Cai.
Van Ninh port complex, whose first phase is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024, can receive ships of 20,000 tons and will serve as a transshipment point for agricultural products from the South to the North, then to China, for domestic and ASEAN markets.
Luong Xuan Dao, Deputy Director of the Thanh Dat company, which manages ICD Thanh Dat dry dock at the Km3+4 Hai Yen entry point, said that the company plans to further expand the ICD wharf area in accordance with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s project, and establish a trading center for agricultural, forestry and fishery goods that includes packaging areas, depot areas, yards, and service areas.
“All the factors will help logistics develop,” said Dao.
The Politburo resolution on socio-economic development and ensuring national defense and security in the Red River Delta by 2030 with a vision to 2045 identifies the building of pilot mechanisms and policies to deploy the Vietnam-China cross-border economic collaboration zone in Quang Ninh as a key task.
According to Ho Quang Huy, Chairman of the Mong Cai municipal People’s Committee, under the master planning approved by the Prime Minister, Mong Cai city reserved 1,300 hectares of land that borders Dongxing city, China, and is located between Bac Luan II border gate and Bac Luan III bridge.
“This area connects directly to the Van Don - Mong Cai highway, very convenient for connecting trade, promoting the geographical advantages to expand cooperation and attract investment, and boosting processing, high-tech manufacturing, and cooperation with Chinese businesses and partners of Dongxing,” Huy noted.
The improvements in import-export infrastructure and quality of goods, and transparent reform of administrative procedures, are important "keys" to entering the Chinese market.
 Import-export and migration activities via Mong Cai are positively recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: Truong Giang)
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Mong Cai city has made full use of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China, considering it a firm foundation for trade cooperation.
Secretary of the Mong Cai municipal Party Committee Hoang Ba Nam insisted that enhancing cooperation, solidarity, and friendship drives the growth of trade and immigration via the Mong Cai border gate.
“The strategic trust between the two sides is of great importance to boost socio-economic development and ensure national defense and security. We've mutually agreed to develop a borderline in the Mong Cai a role model of the national border gate system across Vietnam,” said Nam.
Mong Cai city is rapidly completing a series of infrastructure projects to boost border trade, including an inter-agency checkpoint station linked to a commercial service area at the Bac Luan II bridge border gate, and a laboratory for the China Certification & Inspection Group (CCIC) at the Km3+4 Hai Yen entry point.