History of Border Trade

Border trade between Guangxi and Vietnam was completely recovered in 1989. From then on, the Guangxi-Vietnam confrontation lasting for 10 years has been dissolved by the enthusiasm of the border inhabitants who began trading with each other.

At the beginning, border inhabitants opened up a small flat place as a market on the border line where they conducted barter trades. Their shoulders served as goods circulation channels. Later these small village market places called "grass slope " became 25 fixed border inhabitants trade spots. With the development of border trade, China set up Pingxiang, Youyiguang, Dongxing and Shuikou as national level land ports and opened Beihai's Qiaogang, Fangchengguang's Baisa as border trade cargo passing ports.

The trade forms have developed from single mutual barter trade to a new pattern of coexisting multitudinous forms of mutual barter, small quantum trade and border economic and technological cooperation, participated in various channels as by State-owned enterprises, collective companies and private sectors.

Guangxi-Vietnam border trades promote both sides' commodity circulations. Vietnamese merchants mainly import from border trades diesel engines, small size farming machines, construction materials, pesticide, bicycles, sowing machines, beer, textiles and thermoses.

The major goods Chinese merchants import are Vietnamese farming related special local products, including fruit, lumber, sea products, rubber, palm oil, coconut oil, chopping blocks, rice, corn, bean oil, dry cassava, and Vietnamese iron ore, manganese, coal, etc..

In 1989,Guangxi border trade import and export volume was only ￥450 million while in 1997 it reached ￥3.1 billion, totaling ￥19.9 billion in 9 years. The direct beneficiaries in the border trade development are the border areas and their inhabitants.

Border trade only accounts for more than 10 percent of Guangxi's total import and export volume, but it broadens sources of wealth, improves border opening to the outside world and stabilizes border areas, which had long been war-torn and were relatively late in carrying out reform and opening policies; nothing can substitute the effect of border trade in vitalizing the economy of the border areas.