Living on Chinese goods?

On Sunday morning, I had coffee with a friend in the lighting industry. When mentioning the Khaisilk incident of fraudulently passing off Chinese goods as Vietnamese goods, my friend said indifferently: Oh my god, that’s nothing to make a big deal out of. Working in the electricity industry, I know that the market now uses all Chinese products. From light bulbs, cables, screws…, big and small, they are all Chinese products…

Without listing each Chinese brand in the lighting industry in detail, my friend said that residential projects, high-rise buildings, roads, bridges, etc. currently all favor Chinese equipment. A 100-250W high-pressure lamp, including bulb, capacitor, and phase housing, if imported from China, costs only about 1 million VND;

Buying from ASEAN countries is one and a half times more expensive. Similarly, interior lighting equipment, such as Chinese LED bulbs, is also "knocked out" Vietnamese names such as Dien Quang, Rang Dong... from buildings.

Chinese onions, shallots, and garlic dominate the restaurant and canteen segments in Vietnam thanks to their low prices. Is it time for Vietnamese people to live on Chinese goods?

Recently, a friend named T, an agricultural sales employee of a Chinese company headquartered in District 4, "boasted" that he sells 15-17 containers of Chinese onions per month at two wholesale markets in Binh Dien and Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City.

It is worth mentioning that this Chinese company has only opened a business office in Vietnam for eight months, but they have quickly dominated the production of onions, carrots, garlic, and shallots in these two markets, with only one motto: buying goods directly from the fields in China at cheap prices, to sell at wholesale markets in Vietnam at competitive prices.

Normally, according to T, the Chinese company would buy onions in buckets at the field at a price of only about 1,000 VND/kg, then hire a truck to transport them to border gates in Vietnam to sort them and then transport them to the two wholesale markets above. Every morning at 4am, as a sales staff, T would ride a motorbike to the wholesale market to pick up the goods, then deliver them to the traders at an average price of 7,000 - 8,000 VND/kg.

This season, Dalat onions are not in season yet (they will be available from mid-November onwards), so Chinese onions are dominating the Vietnamese market, T revealed. Not only onions, but for a long time now, Chinese carrots, garlic, shallots, white cabbage, broccoli (net bag), melons... have also flooded the market. Mr. Nguyen Minh Nhat, a dealer (District 7) who specializes in getting agricultural products from Binh Dien market to deliver to restaurants, eateries, and coffee shops, said: most Chinese agricultural products are favored by the collective kitchen segment because of their beautiful appearance, large size, and low price.

“Most large kitchens use Chinese carrots, onions, shallots or garlic, and rarely use domestic products,” Mr. Nhat affirmed.

The owner of HB restaurant in the university village, Thu Duc district, Ho Chi Minh City, did not hesitate to reveal that he uses at least 20kg of fresh garlic, 15kg of onions, and 10kg of shallots from... China every day. "Domestically grown garlic and shallots are all over 50,000 VND/kg, but the bulbs are tiny and difficult to process, while Chinese products are available all year round, half the price, have big bulbs, and are easy for chefs to prepare," he compared.

Recently, the Khaisilk case of selling scarves 'made in China' has stirred up public opinion in Vietnam. Photo: Archive

At any Northern pho restaurant, if you choose sliced ​​garlic soaked in vinegar in a jar, it is Chinese garlic, not Vietnamese garlic, because the garlic slices are big and thick while the Vietnamese ones are tiny.

For decades, on average every night, the three largest agricultural wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh City have received hundreds of tons of vegetables and fruits from China. From here, the goods spread and took root throughout neighboring districts, provinces and cities.

After a period of public outcry, although Chinese agricultural products have gradually decreased in retail markets, they are still maintained in the collective kitchen segment, where the quantity is used many times larger than in family kitchens. Vietnamese consumers, although hesitant, do not directly buy Chinese agricultural products in retail markets for processing, but when they go to restaurants, hotels, eateries, or coffee shops, they still have to use them.

On the other hand, Vietnam also exports agricultural products to China, such as seafood, fruits, rice, pepper, cashews, pork, etc., but overall, we are still inferior to them in terms of output and approach. Up to now, apart from a few Vietnamese agricultural products such as Vinamit, Trung Nguyen coffee, etc. that have established their brands in the Chinese market, most of the rest have no history in this populous market.

For example, in the case of rice, China currently consumes nearly 40% of Vietnam's rice exports, but according to export businesses, it is very difficult to find packaged rice products produced in Vietnam sold in the Chinese market.

According to Mr. Huynh Van Thon - Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of Loc Troi Group, Chinese rice importers often import rice from Vietnam because of its cheap price, low quality... to mix with their own rice or rice imported from other countries. This makes Vietnamese rice, although exported a lot, have no brand in this market. Vietnamese rice is always at a disadvantage in trading with Chinese importers, so although it is exported a lot, its value is not high.

This review shows that Khaisilk’s fraudulently passing off Chinese goods as Vietnamese goods is just the tip of the iceberg of Chinese goods that are deeply ingrained and rooted in the Vietnamese market. Now, manufacturing enterprises in any industry seem to be “out of breath” with Chinese goods.

According to Danviet