Vietnam earns $42mln from lychee export to China

By July 4, 2016 | 08:23 pm PT

Fruit farmers are still looking to the northern neigbor as their main export market.

Vietnam earned over $42 million from exporting lychees to China in the first six months of the year, the government's online news portal quoted an official as saying on Monday.

There are about 170-200 trucks transporting lychees to China everyday, said Nguyen Cong Truong, vice chairman of the People's Committee of the northern border province of Lang Son.

Lychees are mainly grown in Vietnam's northern provinces of Bac Giang, Hai Duong and Hung Yen.

Statistics released by Bac Giang's Department of Trade and Industry showed that as of the end of June, Vietnam has exported over 62,863 tons of lychees to neighboring China via border gates in Lang Son, Lao Cai and Ha Giang.

It is estimated that at present some 250 Chinese traders are in Luc Ngan - a small town just north of Hanoi which is taken over by lychees during the tropical fruit's six-week season - making deals with Vietnamese farmers to buy lychees.

This year, in Luc Ngan, the lychee output is forecast to hit 90,000 tons, about 15,000 tons higher than earlier estimates, said the Bac Giang Department of Industry and Trade on its website.

Bac Giang has already harvested nearly 80,000 tons of lychees, and that figure is set to rise to around 130,000.

According to Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade, China remains the largest export market for Vietnamese lychees.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last month asked customs officials at the country's northern border gates to work overtime to boost lychee exports to China.

Meanwhile, the Plant Protection Department under Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has waived phytosanitary fees for lychees shipped by air from June 23.

According to the vice chairman of Lang Son People's Committee, in addition to lychees, there are over 100 trucks per day transporting dragon fruit, watermelons and bananas from Vietnam's central provinces to China via the province's border gate.

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