China becomes Vietnam's top export market in first two months of 2018

HANOI - China became Vietnam's biggest export market in the first two months of this year, the Vietnamese General Statistics Office said on Thursday, noting that the biggest export market in the same period last year was the United States.

Vietnam exported $9.4 billion worth of products to China between January and February, posting a year-on-year rise of 24.4 percent. In the same period last year, the United States was Vietnam's biggest export market with turnovers of 6 billion dollars.

Vietnam made total export turnovers of more than $33.6 billion in the first two months of this year, up 22.9 percent, with China being the biggest market, followed by the United States, the European Union, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Japan and South Korea.

Specifically, Vietnam earned $6.6 billion from exporting phones and components, up 41.7 percent; $4.3 billion from garments and textiles, up 22.3 percent; $4 billion from electronic products, computers and components, up 19.2 percent; $2.3 billion from footwear, up 11.9 percent; $2.1 billion from machines, equipment, tools and spare parts, up 19.5 percent; and $1.3 billion from vehicles and spare parts, up 19.7 percent, said the office.