【By Observer Network, Chen Sijia】"Despite the continuous pressure from the United States, Vietnam has chosen to strengthen its relations with China." According to Reuters report on December 10, the U.S. tariff policy has prompted Vietnam to deepen its economic and trade ties with China. As more Chinese investments enter the Vietnamese market, Chinese companies are "re-shaping Vietnam's industrial landscape," and China's influence in Vietnam continues to grow.

The report said that the United States has been pressuring Vietnam to reduce its reliance on Chinese technology and components. However, data from the Vietnamese government showed that from January to November this year, Vietnam imported about $168 billion worth of goods from China, an increase of nearly 30% compared to the previous year, exceeding the record annual data of 2024. Nearly one-third of these goods were electronic parts, which are usually processed and then exported to the United States.

Chinese companies are also expanding into the Vietnamese market, competing with local leading enterprises. According to non-public registration data obtained by Reuters, in the first 10 months of this year, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Yadea sold over 36,000 units in Vietnam, ranking fourth. Although the Vietnamese electric vehicle market is still dominated by the local manufacturer VinFast, the rapidly growing Yadea has become its major competitor.

As Vietnam begins to phase out fuel-powered motorcycles, policies restricting fuel-powered motorcycles have been introduced in places like Hanoi, gradually causing Japanese motorcycle manufacturers Honda and Yamaha to lose their leading position in the Vietnamese market.

Hai Phong Port, Visual China

Chinese retailers are also starting to enter the Vietnamese market. In major Vietnamese cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the expansion trend of Chinese retail brands such as KKV can be seen. The Vietnamese real estate service company CBRE disclosed: "Since the end of 2024, a significant highlight in the Ho Chi Minh City retail market has been the entry and expansion of Chinese brands."

A survey conducted by market research company Q&Me in October showed that TikTok, a social commerce platform under ByteDance, has become the top social commerce platform in Vietnam, while Alibaba's e-commerce platform Lazada ranks among the main e-commerce websites in Vietnam. Tencent has also indirectly invested in two leading online retailers in Vietnam, Shopee and Tiki.

In terms of investment, Pham Van Tuan, chairman of the Vietnam-China Business Committee, said that joint ventures between Chinese suppliers and Vietnamese partners are becoming increasingly common, and some Chinese companies also provide technical support to Vietnamese partners. Pham Van Tuan stated that 12 Chinese members of the committee have transferred or plan to transfer technology to Vietnamese companies this year, whereas no Chinese companies did so last year.

The report said that it is very rare for Chinese companies to transfer technology to Vietnamese partners so far. From industry data and information from industry insiders, it appears that now Chinese companies no longer see Vietnam merely as an "assembly base," but also as a consumer market.

Last month, Reuters cited as many as seven sources exclusively reported that Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE have won a series of contracts to supply 5G equipment in Vietnam this year. For years, Vietnam was considered reluctant to use Chinese technology in sensitive infrastructure, but with the improvement of Sino-Vietnamese relations, Vietnam has begun to accept Chinese technology companies.

Data from the Vietnamese government shows that Chinese mainland and Hong Kong companies have committed to invest $6.7 billion in Vietnam in the first 11 months of this year, making them the largest investor in Vietnam.

Koen Soenens, sales director of the Deep C Industrial Park, said that in 2019, Chinese manufacturers accounted for only 10% of the companies in the park, but this proportion has now increased to around 25%. Located in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh province, Deep C Industrial Park is one of the largest industrial clusters in northern Vietnam.

Nguyen Hung, a supply chain expert at the RMIT University Vietnam campus, said that due to Western pressure, Vietnam has long taken a so-called "wait-and-see attitude" towards Chinese technology, but he added, "Vietnam also has its own priorities," and new agreements may promote deeper economic integration between Vietnam and China.

Last August, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President To Lam, made an official visit to China, and the interconnection of railways between China and Vietnam was one of the important topics of the visit. In April this year, the China-Vietnam railway cooperation mechanism was officially launched.

Reuters pointed out that projects such as cross-border railway connections and the establishment of special economic zones near the Chinese border had previously caused Vietnam to waver due to so-called "security risk concerns," but recent progress has been made in these projects between Vietnam and China.

Pan Chunyong, a researcher at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, believes that the U.S. insistence on imposing a 20% tariff on Vietnam has led Vietnam to deepen its economic ties with China. "Vietnamese officials are dissatisfied with the U.S. punitive measures, and they want to hedge by further strengthening their relationship with China," he said.

Dan Martin, vice manager of the business consulting company Dezan Shira, said that strengthening economic ties with China is both a "insurance measure" and a growth strategy for Vietnam. Now, the scale and diversity of Chinese projects are "re-shaping Vietnam's industrial landscape."

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Original: toutiao.com/article/7582186436577870345/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.