Vietnam's trade deficit with China continues to widen

HANOI -- Vietnam's trade deficit with China continues to widen in the first two months of 2015, said Vietnam' s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on Monday.

Specifically, in the two-month period, Vietnam spent $7.482 importing goods from China while earning $2.312 billion from exports to the market, resulting in a trade deficit of $5.17 billion with China, some $2.8 billion higher than that of the same period in 2014, stated the Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center (VITIC) under MoIT on its website.

Vietnam mainly exports raw material, such as rubber latex, coal, minerals, to China while importing finished products including tires and steel from the market, said VITIC.

As domestic capacity of producing consumer goods fails to meet local demand, Vietnamese companies must import raw material and accessories from other countries such as China, which have an abundant supply with reasonable price, Bui Huy Son, head of MoIT' s Trade Promotion Agency on Vietnam Plus, was quoted by the state- run news agency VNA as saying.

In 2012, Vietnam's import revenue from China hit $28.784 billion, which rose to $36.937 billion in 2013 and $43. 867 billion in 2014, said VITIC.