Lychee demand in China drives Vietnam's exports

HANOI — At 1 am local time, while most of the village was still asleep, farmer Tran Van Bon was already in his lychee orchard in Vietnam's northern province of Bac Ninh, moving between rows of trees heavy with ripening fruit.

Working under the glow of headlamps, Bon and his family carefully picked bunches of bright red lychees before dawn, when the fruit is at its freshest.

A few hours later, the fruit would begin its journey to China, Vietnam's largest export market for lychees.

In late May, the first container trucks carrying lychees departed from Bac Ninh, bound for China, marking the start of this year's export season and bringing renewed hope to thousands of growers across the province.

Bac Ninh is Vietnam's largest lychee-producing province, with 29,800 hectares of orchards, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

For Bon, who has cultivated lychees for two decades in Nam Duong commune, the Chinese market has become increasingly vital for his family's livelihood.

China has remained the major export destination for Bac Ninh lychees for many years.

According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, the province currently has 243 lychee-growing area codes covering more than 17,450 hectares that have been approved for export to various international markets.

Of these, over 120 growing area codes, covering over 16,190 hectares, are registered for exports to the Chinese market this year.

Pham Van Thinh, vice-chairman of the Bac Ninh Provincial People's Committee, estimated that lychee exports to China could reach between 40,000 and 50,000 metric tons this year.

Harvest season

Across Nam Duong commune, the harvest season has transformed quiet rural roads into busy trading routes. Trucks line up near collection points while farmers rush to pick, sort and pack fruit for cross-border shipment.

Local farmer Tran Van Binh shares the same optimism.

Binh expects to earn between 200 million and 300 million Vietnamese dong ($7,600 to $11,400) through lychee exports to China this season.

Despite lower yields, growers like Bon and Binh said stable demand from China has helped sustain their incomes and ease concerns over finding buyers.

China has been Vietnam's top trading partner for more than two decades. In 2025, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports to China exceeded $5 billion, accounting for more than 64 percent of its total fruit and vegetable exports. Vietnam's durian and fresh coconut are highly sought-after in China.

"Now that Chinese traders are buying lychees in large quantities, we no longer worry about the market for our fruit. We can focus on growing and caring for lychees to meet export standards," Binh said.

Xinhua