Viet Nam, China consolidate bilateral agricultural cooperation

The meeting was regarded as a practical activity to implement the shared understanding of the two countries’ leaders on agriculture, while also exchanging views, reviewing the progress of cooperation, and identifying cooperation directions for the next phase.

Many positive outcomes

In discussions with the Chinese side, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang emphasized that this meeting will promote agricultural and rural cooperation, in line with the expectations and directives of the two countries’ leaders.

“Since the 1st meeting in 2018, the competent agencies of the two Ministries have implemented initiatives and achieved many results across all areas of agricultural cooperation,” Minister Tran Duc Thang affirmed.

Sharing the results, the Minister said that regarding fisheries, based on the "MoU on the implementation of fish release and the protection of fisheries resources in the Gulf of Tonkin," the Chinese side has successfully organized eight fish release activities, while the Vietnamese side has successfully conducted two activities for fish release and fisheries resource restoration.

In plant and animal disease management, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment emphasized the high value of China providing Vietnam with a dedicated sample certificate and monthly updates; as well as updating and authorizing Vietnam on the approved products.

In addition, the two sides have proactively coordinated among relevant agencies, promoting negotiations aimed at completing animal import and export procedures soon.

Regarding cooperation in agricultural, forestry, and fisheries trade, the two countries have achieved remarkable development since 2018. Specifically, Vietnam’s exports of agricultural, forestry, and fisheries products to China have increased by approximately 75%, while imports from China have grown more than fivefold. In the first nine months of 2025, the total bilateral trade in agricultural, forestry, and fisheries products between Vietnam and China reached nearly 14 billion USD.

In terms of training and capacity building, over the past years, China has received, trained, and nurtured many Vietnamese experts. Since 2018, Vietnam has sent eight people for doctoral training, seven for master’s training, and more than 100 officials have participated in short-term training courses and workshops in China.

In scientific research and technology transfer, the two sides have achieved great success in implementation and have gained many accomplishments. For example, they have successfully transferred the Ha Den grape variety and successfully researched several new maize and melon varieties.

Based on today’s meeting, Minister Tran Duc Thang expressed the desire to further promote agricultural cooperation, including fish release programs, training cooperation, crop variety transfer and research, and the establishment of a joint research center on Vietnamese and Chinese rice varieties.

“At the 1st meeting, the two sides agreed to study the establishment of a Viet Nam - China joint research center on rice varieties to select varieties supporting Vietnam; however, up to now, this has not yet been implemented. I sincerely hope that we can begin building it immediately after the 2nd meeting today,” he said.

Ready to cooperate

On the Chinese side, Minister Han Jun affirmed that agricultural cooperation between the two countries has a solid foundation, significant development prospects, and China is ready to support Viet Nam in related fields.

In crop production, China wishes to continue cooperation in rice breeding, plant protection, and pest control. Accordingly, China is ready to continue implementing the memorandum of understanding on plant protection technology management, strengthen the pesticide registration mechanism, promote mutual recognition of experimental data on pesticides, and expand monitoring of migratory pests.

Regarding the establishment of a joint research center on rice varieties, Minister Han Jun confirmed that all conditions are now sufficient, and China has very strong capacity in rice research and production, so implementation will begin soon. Notably, leading Chinese rice enterprises will participate in this initiative.

In the livestock and veterinary sector, Minister Han Jun stated that top Chinese enterprises are already cooperating and have headquarters in the Vietnamese market, such as the collaboration between Muyuan and BAF Vietnam to build high-tech pig farms. Muyuan currently produces 80 million pigs per year, accounting for 10% of China’s total output.

“China is also ready to cooperate with Viet Nam in animal feed processing, animal disease prevention, and the exchange of epidemiological information and disease-control techniques,” Minister Han Jun added.

Regarding fisheries, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ leadership reported that since 2018, more than 420 million aquaculture fry have been released into the Gulf of Tonkin, contributing to the conservation of fisheries resources and providing practical benefits for local fishermen.

Meanwhile, at the end of October, the two countries held the 5th round of negotiations on the Gulf of Tonkin Fisheries Cooperation Agreement, achieving many positive results.

In science and technology cooperation, in the coming period, efforts will be promoted to strengthen connections between research agencies of the two countries, jointly designing, proposing, and implementing technical cooperation projects to enhance integrated production capacity in agriculture.

In addition, the Chinese side confirmed that the space for agricultural trade exchanges between the two countries remains very large. Currently, Chinese enterprises investing in research and production in Viet Nam have already achieved significant results.

“China is also considering investment in cold storage and logistics and hopes Viet Nam can provide information while being ready to share experiences,” Minister Han Jun proposed.

Regarding training and capacity building, China also affirmed its readiness to support Viet Nam’s training needs in areas such as gene analysis, digital transformation, or agricultural services through its embassies.

Pandas, lobsters and several proposals

Welcoming the six issues proposed by Minister Han Jun, Minister Tran Duc Thang emphasized that in the coming time, there must be a determined effort to implement the matters agreed upon at the 1st meeting but not yet realized, such as establishing a joint research center on rice varieties.

Alongside this, promoting trade and investment is essential to bring tangible results in agricultural cooperation between the two countries. Minister Tran Duc Thang said that during this working trip to China, he met with Muyuan and BAF Vietnam and offered full support for cooperation between the two companies.

He also hopes that Minister Han Jun will pay attention and continue to introduce and guide Chinese enterprises to invest in Vietnam in sectors with existing demand, such as cold storage, cold-chain transport, supply chain management, or wholesale markets.

Proposing several specific issues, Minister Tran Duc Thang recalled that cooperation on pandas was discussed around 10 years ago and could now be restarted to strengthen cooperation and friendship between the two countries and their ministries.

Regarding spiny lobsters, Vietnam has basically farmed them rather than wild-caught, but CITES regulations on the origin of the breeding stock still apply. Therefore, the Minister intends to invite a delegation from China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to verify the legal origin of the stock before cultivation.

The Minister also discussed China’s highly successful rural revitalization program and expressed the desire to organize a delegation of experts to study and learn from China’s implementation approach.

Finally, the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment stated that early next year, given the importance of the Chinese market, Vietnam will send an official representing the agriculture and environment sector to work at the Vietnamese Embassy in Beijing, and hopes that China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will support this official in completing the assignment.

Minister Han Jun warmly acknowledged the proposals and expressed particular interest in China’s rural revitalization and poverty alleviation efforts. He noted that China’s rural areas and farmers have changed significantly in recent years and are ready to share experiences as well as welcome the Vietnamese delegation to selected exemplary localities for study visits.