Chinese businesses are playing tricks on Vietnamese chili again

Since mid-May, Chinese businesses specializing in purchasing chili peppers have fled, leaving hundreds of chili-growing households penniless and in dire straits.

In Khanh Son commune, Nam Dan district, Nghe An province, 72 households grow 7.2 hectares of chili pepper variety GB17615.3-2010 provided by a Chinese enterprise.

For the past month, people have been harvesting chili peppers, but the company has not returned to buy them as promised in the contract. The selling price on the market is too cheap, so many chili pepper fields are ripe, but farmers have had to leave them alone.

Similarly, in Nghi Kieu commune, Nghi Loc district, Nghe An province, there are also hundreds of households growing chili peppers, but they also fell into a situation where Chinese businesses only came to buy 1.5 tons in early May and then disappeared.

The economic contract on chili production and consumption between Shanghai Yuye Industrial Company and Khanh Son Commune People's Committee was signed on March 15, the Chinese enterprise is responsible for purchasing fresh chili products for growers. In early May, when people started harvesting chili, representatives of Shanghai Yuye Company came to buy but in very small quantities.

Chinese traders sign contracts with many promises and then run away
leaving people in dire straits because no one buys red ripe chili peppers

“On May 10 and 11, the company sent representatives to purchase. On average, people brought 5 kg of chili, but they rejected 4 kg because they thought the quality was not guaranteed. After purchasing a few chilis, they ran away and never came back. People had to pick the chilis to dry or leave them to rot in the fields,” said Mr. Pham Viet Hung, from the Khanh Son Commune Agriculture Department.

In Gia Lai, according to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the whole province currently has nearly 3,000 hectares of chili cultivation. Compared to the price of nearly 50,000 VND/kg at the end of 2013 and the first few months of 2014, Chinese traders are currently purchasing chili at only 7,000 - 9,000 VND/kg. At this price, chili growers are sure to suffer heavy losses.

Must find a way to escape China

In fact, recently, Vietnam’s agricultural exports have been too dependent on China. Many types of Vietnamese agricultural products exported to China have encountered difficulties when China suddenly stopped purchasing.

Not only chili but also watermelon exported to China through Tan Thanh border gate (Lang Son) is congested, the price of watermelon has dropped sharply, sometimes only 1,000-2,000 VND/kg, watermelon has to be dumped for cattle to eat.

According to economic expert Pham Chi Lan: Vietnam's economy must step out of its dependence on China, especially in the current tense situation in the East Sea.

Accordingly, Ms. Lan believes that to escape China, we must first review ourselves and adjust the way we develop our foreign economic relations.

Specifically, Ms. Lan analyzed that we are currently being a bit extreme when we keep focusing on exports while the domestic market is still very large.

For example, Bac Giang and Hai Duong lychees are worried about whether China will buy them this year or not, while many people in the Southern and Central markets also have demand and can buy them. Why are they worried about selling them across the border rather than domestically?

Or like the watermelons from the South, they are transported to the border and then people don't buy them, causing them to rot, while the watermelons in Hanoi and the Northern provinces are still very expensive. We have to regulate the domestic market ourselves.

Mr. Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also said that to escape dependence on the Chinese market, it is necessary to pay attention to these two important points. For agricultural products, it is necessary to restructure the agricultural sector. It must be determined that the agricultural sector and agricultural products are highly competitive. Therefore, agricultural products must be linked to the processing industry, linked to value chains. It includes from seeds, crops, harvesting, preservation, processing... even having to make products from high-tech applications.

In general, we must invest sufficiently and apply high technology to create high-quality agricultural products. With such high-quality agricultural products, in the conditions of free trade agreements when opening the agricultural market, we will have more opportunities. Promote the export of agricultural products to large markets and demanding markets.

Ms. Lan also acknowledged: if Vietnam does not seek new channels and abandon the easy-going business mindset, it will continue to face difficulties when Chinese traders cheat as in the past./.

According to vov