South Korean media: Vietnam's trade surplus "halved", only $3.8 billion in the first four months! On June 3, South Korean media "Asia Economy" published an article stating that this year, Vietnam's trade surplus has decreased by nearly 60%. According to data released by the Vietnam General Statistics Office, Vietnam's total trade volume in April was preliminarily calculated at $74.32 billion, a decrease of 1.4% month-on-month but an increase of 21.3% year-on-year. Among them, exports were $37.45 billion, and imports were $36.87 billion. It is reported that from January to April this year, Vietnam's total trade volume reached approximately $276.89 billion, an increase of $3.75 billion (15.7%) compared to the same period last year. Among them, exports were $140.34 billion, increasing by 13%; imports were $136.55 billion, increasing by 18.6%, with the import growth rate exceeding the export growth rate. As a result, the trade surplus was $3.8 billion, a decrease of 58.2% compared to the same period last year. During the same period, the export volume of local enterprises increased by 18.1% year-on-year, reaching $4.074 billion, accounting for 29% of the total export volume. Foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises, including oil enterprises, increased by 11%, reaching $99.6 billion, accounting for 71% of the total. There were 22 major commodities with export volumes exceeding $1 billion, accounting for 88.1% of the total export volume. In addition, there were seven commodities with export volumes exceeding $5 billion, accounting for 67.1%. By industry, the export value of industrial products and processed goods reached $123.71 billion, accounting for 88.2% of the total export volume; the export value of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products reached $12.39 billion, accounting for 8.8% of the total export volume. Next are fishery products, accounting for 2.3%, reaching $3.21 billion; fuels and minerals accounted for 0.7%, reaching $1.03 billion. From January to April, by industry classification, the import volume of local enterprises was $51.26 billion, an increase of 21.1% year-on-year; the import volume of FDI enterprises was $85.29 billion, an increase of 17.1% year-on-year. Among them, there were 25 major commodities with import volumes exceeding $1 billion, accounting for 84.2% of the total import volume. Two of these products had import volumes exceeding $5 billion. In terms of import structure, the import volume of production materials was $128.17 billion, accounting for 93.9%. Among them, the import of machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts accounted for 50.6%, and the import of materials and fuels accounted for 43.3%. Consumer goods amounted to $8.38 billion, accounting for 6.1%. As of April this year, the market-by-market import and export situation shows that the United States remains Vietnam's largest export market, with an export value of $43.4 billion, while China remains Vietnam's largest import market, with an import value of $53.2 billion. Among them, the trade surplus with the US expanded by 24.9% year-on-year to $37.7 billion, and the trade surplus with the EU expanded by 16.8% year-on-year to $13.4 billion. The trade surplus with Japan almost doubled, reaching $700 million. On the other hand, the trade deficit with China expanded by 44.2% year-on-year to $35.1 billion, the trade deficit with South Korea expanded by 9.5% year-on-year to $9.6 billion, and the trade deficit with ASEAN expanded by 83.1% year-on-year to $5.4 billion. [Image: //p3-sign.toutiaoimg.com/tos-cn-i-ezhpy3drpa/bbaa01191e3e41068eb9a0d42b0ef38c~tplv-obj:1920:1080.image?_iz=97245&bid=15&from=post&gid=1833896118359040&lk3s=06827d14&x-expires=1756684800&x-signature=PgTx7Ep1vcC8%2Fb7a9OtL%2FXlE9xw%3D] Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833896118359040/ Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's viewpoint.