According to news from SeafoodNews on January 20, after China fully lifts the epidemic isolation measures, it is expected that the Chinese market with a population of 1.4 billion will have a positive impact on Vietnam's seafood exports.

In 2004, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (MARD) signed a cooperation agreement with China on aquatic food safety control , thereafter the two sides maintained the registration requirements for seafood export enterprises. Currently, China recognizes 802 Vietnamese seafood companies exporting seafood to China, and Vietnam recognizes 780 Chinese companies exporting seafood to Vietnam.

Although there are many challenges for Vietnamese seafood exports to China in 2022, exports to China are still growing strongly, and the export value has doubled.

Lê Bá Anh, deputy director for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Quality Control Department of MARD, pointed out that China's previous implementation of the “zero epidemic” policy has brought difficulties to Vietnam's seafood export trade, especially high-value products such as live crabs, lobsters, vannamei and black tiger prawns. So when China opened its market, it created favorable conditions for a huge increase in these commodities.

Lê Bá Anh pointed out that with the policy changes, China's catering industry will also return to the level of 2019, and the market's demand for high-value seafood will increase. At the same time, China will cancel the complicated procedures for imported food related to the inspection of the new crown epidemic. All of these will benefit the export of Vietnamese seafood to China.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) stated that in the context of rising global inflation, China will become the most potential destination for Vietnamese seafood enterprises in 2023, thanks to strong demand and geographical advantages. And factors such as logistics costs and risks are lower than other markets.