Vietnam's Trade Volume Reached US$489.1 Billion in the First Eleven Months
According to the latest data released by the Vietnamese government, Vietnam’s export amounted to US$24.8 billion in November, an increase of 8.8% year-on-year. From January to November, the total exports in goods were US$254.6 billion, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year. In terms of imports, imports in goods were about US$24.2 billion in November, up 13.4% year on year. From January to November, the total imports in goods were US$234.5 billion, up 1.5% year on year. In the first 11 months, Vietnam’s total exports and imports were US$489.1 billion, and its trade surplus reached US$ 20.1 billion, a record high. The largest trading partner of Vietnam is China. Its total trade volume with China in the first 11 months was US$117 billion, of which exports to China were US$43.1 billion and imports were US$73.9 billion. The trade deficit was US$30.8 billion. Vietnam's largest export partner was the United States, with exports of US$69.9 billion, followed by the European Union (US$32.2 billion), ASEAN (US$20.9 billion), South Korea (US$17.7 billion) and Japan (US$17.3 billion). In terms of export enterprises, in the first ten months, Vietnam's private enterprises exported US$73 billion, up by 1.6%, accounting for 28.7% of the total export. The exports of foreign-invested enterprises (including crude oil) reached US$181.6 billion, up 6.9%, accounting for 71.3%. As a result of global trade disputes, many manufacturing industries are moving out of China, and Vietnam is an important move-in area. Foxconn has previously been reported to plan to move some of Apple's production lines from China to Vietnam and to set up production bases in the country. Many people believe that Vietnam has a certain degree of substitution for "Made in China", especially in light manufactory industry such as clothing industry. Attracted by factors such as low labor costs in Vietnam, more and more foreign brands set up factories in Vietnam and sell their products all over the world. According to the data, the export volume of foreign-invested enterprises accounts for more than 70% of its export volume, which shows that Vietnam is indeed receiving the dividends of industrial transfer. However, restricted by its population, economic scale and other factors, it is not a complete substitute for China.