Chinese traders only 'cheat' in Vietnam: Whose fault is it?

Irresponsible government and greedy farmers are the reasons why China's massive purchase of agricultural products for unknown purposes continues.

Faced with the reality of Chinese traders entering Vietnam to buy agricultural products at very high prices with unclear purposes and then abandoning farmers, Dr. Le Dang Doanh - former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management - asked the question: "Are they buying for commercial purposes or for other purposes?"

Dr. Le Dang Doanh analyzed that buying cashew leaves, sweet potato leaves, or cardamom sprouts and roots is an act of economic sabotage, not a commercial act. Commercial acts mean buying and selling for mutual benefit.

According to Dr. Le Dang Doanh, there needs to be a full study, survey, and report on the tricks and behaviors of Chinese traders. Based on that, the Ministry of Industry and Trade needs to have specific instructions. For traders without a background or registration when purchasing, they need to be reported and legally prevented or notified to farmers and localities to have preventive and vigilant measures.

Chinese traders are rushing to buy cardamom sprouts at high prices.

"Chinese traders cannot do whatever they want. These behaviors have only been seen in Vietnam, not in other neighboring countries," said Dr. Le Dang Doanh.

Dr. Le Dang Doanh said that this situation has been happening in many different localities, with many different products for a long time, partly because people are greedy for profit, seeing the high prices, they rush to plant and buy, hoping to have immediate income. But the more important reason is the lack of responsibility of local authorities and management agencies.

"The National Assembly is requested to question the responsible agencies," Dr. Le Dang Doanh suggested.

Sharing the same opinion, agricultural expert Professor Vo Tong Xuan said that China's intention in massively purchasing agricultural products from Vietnam is to destroy the economy, and the lack of strict management by local authorities is the cause of this situation. According to Dr. Vo Tong Xuan, local authorities should have gathered these traders together, made a sales contract, and if they do business, they must have a business registration.

Dr. Vo Tong Xuan also pointed out that Vietnam's weakness is that it has not penetrated the Chinese market to know what China needs or what it buys its agricultural products for, but is always passive, allowing China to occasionally come and buy this and that, without knowing the purpose of the purchase.

According to observations and research by Dr. Truong Duy Hoa, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Van, Dr. Nguyen Hong Quang (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences), China's massive purchase of agricultural products at high prices with unclear purposes does not occur in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has contacted the Departments of Industry and Trade and functional departments in localities, the Market Management Department and officers of the Departments of Industry and Trade have directly discussed with farmers in the regions.

Accordingly, the requirement for buying and selling with traders is to have a clear address and a sales contract when purchasing agricultural products. In many cases, when required to have all these conditions, they have "disappeared".

According to Vietnam.net