Yunnan and Vietnam get closer via trade, travel
Vietnamese president To Lam, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), paid a state visit to China from August 18 to 20, choosing China as the destination of his first foreign state visit after being elected as the top leader of the ASEAN nation.
In recent years, southwest China’s Yunnan province has seen increasing cooperation with neighboring Vietnam, with bilateral trade of commodities and the number of cross-border tourists on the rise.
A live streaming is staged at the Yunnan specialty experiencing center in Hanoi.
Thriving trade of commodities
To facilitate bilateral trade, Yunnan businesses set up a specialty exhibition and experiencing center in Hanoi, displaying Yunnan orchids, seasonal fruits, Pu'er tea, tea sets, floral cakes and others. Via live streaming, the center has become a lively shopping site in the Vietnamese capital.
Bạn Linh, a Vietnamese girl live streamer in Yunnan ethnic costume, was standing in front of the camera to introduce the goods, while the male sales partner Vân Nam beside her offered more details from time to time. "Among the 200 plus Yunnan products, the snack food sells best via live broadcast," said Bạn Linh.
Flowers are displayed at the Yunnan specialty experiencing center in Hanoi.
Hundreds of miles away from the Vietnamese capital, another site for live streaming sales is located at the China-ASEAN e-commerce logistics park in south Yunnan’s Hekou county. When night falls, the busy live broadcast will begin.
Su Meng, director of the park’s investment promotion department, said that up to now, 74 enterprises have settled in the industrial park. "Since trial operation in 2023, the industrial park has garnered a cumulative export volume of 380 million yuan via cross-border e-commerce,” said Su.
The China-ASEAN e-commerce logistics park in south Yunnan’s Hekou county
Vietnamese consumers mostly place orders via Tik Tok and other social media, and the Hekou industrial park has also established contacts with well-known brands in Vietnam, allowing Vietnamese products to access consumers in China. "At present, Vietnam's G7 coffee, instant noodles, cashews, fruits and vegetables are popular among Chinese consumers," Su added.
Statistics from Kunming Customs show that from January to July this year, the Yunnan-Vietnam trade volume reached 12.18 billion yuan, up 30.52% year on year. Of the trade sum, 6.64 billion yuan was generated from Yunnan exports to Vietnam. The two places are highly complementary in agricultural resources and markets.
Kunming Customs officers check up fruits for Yunnan-Vietnam trade.
Cross-border travel in full swing
This summer vacation has seen the increasing momentum of cross-border tours between Yunnan and Vietnam. At 6 o'clock in the morning, some tour guides have reached the Vietnamese border gate of Laocai, waiting for the arrival of international tourist groups.
Huang Xue, brand manager of Vietnam-Yunnan Tourism Alliance, decisively entered the international tourist market in Vietnam last year. Today, her travel agency receives about 2,500 Vietnamese tourists monthly, most of whom would travel to Yunnan via the Hekou border gate just across from Laocai.
Tourists flock at the Vietnamese border gate of Laocai in May for visiting Yunnan.
"The Pingbian Miao ethnic town, the Jianshui old town and ancient buildings in Kunming are my favorite places to take photos," said Vietnamese girl tourist Lai Trương Phương Huyền. Yunnan's beautiful landscapes and ethnic customs were appealing to her, and she also shopped Chinese herbal foot-soaking bags and flower cakes in the province.
Kuang Junda, who is also engaged in cross-border travel, is head of the Vietnam section of Yunnan Bada International Travel Service Co., Ltd. He said that Vietnamese people are no strangers to Chinese martial arts, or wuxia novels.
Vietnamese tourists pose for a group photo in Kunming, Yunnan.
When Vietnamese tourists visit the Chongsheng temple in Dali, they often ask if this is the place where the hero Duan Yu learned sword-fighting skills, as is narrated in the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha), according to Kuang.
In addition, Chinese films and television dramas are gaining popularity in Vietnam, and TV plays such as "Meet Yourself" have inspired more Vietnamese to visit Yunnan.
Reporting by Chen Chen, Li Ling and Liu Ziyu; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue