China to import more Vietnamese fruits

China on Wednesday established a protocol with Vietnam to officially import fresh watermelon, making it the 15th high-quality agriculture produce to meet Chinese criteria.

Vietnam has already been exporting watermelon to China. The new protocol means there will be more stringent criteria from now on, with China giving approval to certain growing areas and packaging processes and examining every shipment for diseases.

But growing the fruit under Chinese criteria will also guarantee that farmers will be able to sell more to this high-demand market.

China also agreed to open its market to more Vietnamese fruits such as coconut, avocado, custard apple, and bell fruit, including frozen fruits.

China will create favorable conditions for the import of medicines of plant origin, beef, pork and other livestock and poultry products.

In return, Vietnam will increase the import of Chinese sturgeon.

In the first 10 months of this year China bought $3.2 billion worth of vegetables and fruits from Vietnam as agricultural produce imports rose to a record $7.5 billion.

Vietnam accounts for 10% of China’s agricultural market, with its durian accounting for 25% of that country’s market.

China is Vietnam’s biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade quadrupling from 2014 to $235 billion last year.

Agriculture was among the areas the two countries agreed to expand their partnership in during Xi’s two-day visit, the others being infrastructure, energy, digital economy, and green development.