Chinese traders allowed to enter Vietnam for lychee purchase

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security has agreed with the upcoming entry of 190 Chinese traders who come to buy lychee in the northern province of Bac Giang for the season between mid-May and end-July.

Lychee in Bac Giang. Photo: Vaithieulucngan

The Chinese traders will be granted visa at Huu Nghi Border Gate in Lang Son province that is adjacent to Bac Giang.

Nguyen The Thi, deputy chairman of the Luc Ngan People’s Committee, Bac Giang said local authorities will send them to eight hotels in the locality for quarantine.

After the 21-day mandatory quarantine, they are eligible to trade with local sellers.

“Besides the aforementioned group, the Luc Ngan People’s Committee has invited other Chinese traders who have been in Vietnam’s southern region since February 2021 for fruit trading. We are responsible for their visa extension and movement procedures,” Thi said.

Bac Giang is a lychee hub in Vietnam with more than 28,000 ha, yielding 160-200,000 tons per year. Luc Ngan is the main growing zone in the province.

To keep the lychee hub safe from Covid-19, Luc Ngan has set up checkpoints at the entrance gates to tighten control on visitors, mostly traders and workers coming for lychee transactions. The local authorities will also disinfect all lychee batches before the shipment.

Notably, each pack will be labeled certificate of origin and phytosanitary certificate.

Vietnamese lychee is favorite fruit of Chinese customers. The majority of Vietnam’s lychee, which is also grown in Hai Duong province and other parts of the country, is exported to China.

Vietnam’s lychee has been shipped to more than 30 countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Japan, Canada, South Korea, the US, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand.

Vietnam ranks third worldwide for the volume of lychee with approximately 380,000 tons/year, behind China with two million tons/year and India 677,000 tons/year.