Xinhua Headlines: Booming exchange between border cities witnesses deepened China-Vietnam cooperation

* Over 1,000 Vietnamese vendors have registered with the local government of Dongxing, a bustling border town in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

* At Dongxing port, border residents benefit from fast lanes that allow them to clear customs in just minutes.

* In 2024, the China-Vietnam freight train service transported 19,670 containers, a staggering 1,153-percent year-on-year increase in freight volumes.

HANOI/NANNING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ngo Thi Thuy, a Vietnamese woman in her thirties, was preparing the last parcel for her online Chinese customers before pulling down the shop shutters for the night.

Like many other Vietnamese making a living in Dongxing, a bustling border town in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Thuy smoothly navigated the fast lanes at the border port, mingling with the crowd heading home to Mong Cai, a Vietnamese town just across the Beilun River.

CROSS-BORDER BUSINESS

Thuy started out selling Vietnamese specialties at a Chinese-owned shop at the Wanzhong International Wholesale Market in 2016. As border trade boomed in recent years, she opened her own shop in 2018, catering to Chinese tourists and converting many into regular online customers through WeChat.

Now fluent in Chinese, Thuy finds her venture in this foreign town even more rewarding than she imagined. Vietnamese food and products, along with its culture, have become an essential part of the local community, particularly with government policies designed to foster cross-border business cooperation.

"Opening a shop in Dongxing is quite simple," she said, explaining that it only requires a few documents. According to the latest figures, over 1,000 Vietnamese vendors have registered with the local government.

At Dongxing port, border residents benefit from fast lanes that allow them to clear customs in just minutes. In 2024, the port recorded some 8.6 million entries and exits, a remarkable 54.6 percent increase from the previous year.

CROSS-BORDER TRIP

The twin cities of Dongxing and Mong Cai, situated along the coast, are connected by land, river and sea. In November 2024, an international bus route linking the two cities was launched, offering a new transportation option for residents, merchants and tourists.

"It feels just like any other bus," said Su Shihao, a Chinese businessman who frequents Mong Cai. "You can cross into Vietnam for just 10 yuan (0.14 U.S. dollars)."

Wang Haochen, a 19-year-old university student from east China's Zhejiang Province, was brimming with excitement over the new route.

"I plan to travel from Dongxing to Mong Cai and then on to Hanoi. I have never tried international bus service before. It's such a unique experience," he told Xinhua.

For Nguyen Thi Men, a Vietnamese woman living in Dongxing, the international bus is a regular part of her life. "I just go there for pho," she said, referring to the popular Vietnamese noodle soup.

"The two cities are interconnected," said Geng Yanyi, deputy chief of Dongxing Transport Bureau. "The international bus line not only facilitates travel for residents living near the border, but also provides a fresh experience for tourists."

Do Van Tuan, permanent vice chairman of Mong Cai City People's Committee, highlighted the bus service's potential to enhance cross-border trade and tourism.

Additional bus stops, he said, will be set up on the Vietnamese side, and more frequent buses will better serve both residents and tourists across the border.

CROSS-BORDER SHOPPING

In the border town of Pingxiang, located about 300 km west of Dongxing, a freight train carrying goods such as coconut jelly, fruit jam and chestnut pies whistled through the mountainous region.

"As the Vietnamese Lunar New Year draws near, people are starting to prepare festive goods for the celebration," said Nguyen Ngoc Cuong, manager of Pingxiang City Risheng Import & Export Trade Co., Ltd. "They are ordering all kinds of food from China, particularly ingredients for making milk tea."

Cuong's company uses the China-Vietnam freight train service for food imports. "It is highly efficient; same-day delivery of food is now possible," he said.

Data shows that in 2024, the train service transported 19,670 containers, a staggering 1,153-percent year-on-year increase in freight volumes.

Vietnamese fruits, such as fresh coconuts, which were officially approved for export to China in August 2024, are being shipped from Vietnam's tropical regions to various parts of China.

This rail service, which connects to other regional routes, also supports the transport of Chinese and Vietnamese goods to Europe and other Southeast Asian countries.

"The stable transportation capacity, along with competitive pricing and time efficiency of the China-Vietnam freight train service, makes it very attractive in the market," said Nguyen Hoang Anh, deputy general manager of Railway Transport and Trade Joint Stock Company of Vietnam Railways.

He added that Vietnam plans to invest further in railway infrastructure, not least by improving stations and yard management systems, to better integrate with China's railways and enhance cross-border transport capacity. 

(Video reporters: Liang Shun, Wan Houde, Huang Kaiying, Hu Jiali, Qin Guanghua, Tian Zijun; Video editors: Zhang Mocheng, Luo Hui) ■