Vietnam-China trade in January drops amid virus outbreak and holidays

Vietnam-China trade dropped in January due to the coronavirus spread amid the Lunar New Year holiday, disrupting supply chain and transport.

China is Vietnam’s largest partner in trading in manufacturing of materials and equipment for labor.

Bilateral trade fell in January for 25.8% from December’s figures. In the previous year, bilateral trade declined 11.8%, the government of Vietnam said.

According to the Vietnamese government, China-Vietnam trade sharply fell due to the effect of the virus outbreak right after the holidays.

Cross-border trade between the two countries was no longer advised by the Vietnamese government last week. This was followed by an announcement to ban all flights going in and out of China to Vietnam.

Death toll on the coronavirus outbreak has already climbed to 563. The Vietnamese health ministry has confirmed the second and third confirmed case of coronavirus on Tuesday, totaling to 10.

The Vietnam government said that they expect the gross domestic product to decrease by 1% from the 6.8% GDP target.