Vietnam-China International Trade and Tourism Expo (Lang Son 2024): Strengthening Connections and Promoting Development

The Vietnam-China International Trade and Tourism Expo (Lang Son 2024), held from December 1 to 6 in Lang Son City, serves as a key opportunity for businesses from both Vietnam and China to enhance connections in the fields of trade and tourism, thereby driving growth in both sectors.

Expanding Cooperation Opportunities

The Vietnam-China International Trade and Tourism Expo brings together over 100 Vietnamese businesses (including 19 from Lang Son Province) and 45 Chinese businesses to showcase and introduce new products and services. The products displayed span various sectors, including industrial goods, agriculture and forestry, processed products, household items, electronics, and food, all with significant export potential.

The primary objective of the expo is to create opportunities for Vietnamese and Chinese enterprises to establish partnerships, enhance the distribution and import-export of goods between the two countries, and facilitate domestic enterprises in expanding trade connections and market reach.

Mr. Tran Anh Thuan, Head of Trade Promotion and Industrial Encouragement at the Provincial Center for Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion, shared:
"At the expo, in addition to direct exchanges and on-site agreements, businesses can also connect with domestic and international partners through interactive online platforms via livestreaming sessions showcasing their products."

This year's expo marks the first time tourism activities have been integrated into the event. Throughout the expo, the organizers will host various tourism promotion activities, such as business networking events for Vietnamese and Chinese travel agencies and presentations highlighting unique tourism products, tours, and destinations in Lang Son Province and other regions of Vietnam. These activities aim to foster both domestic and international tourism development.

Promoting border trade and tourism

In recent years, Lang Son Province (Vietnam) and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (China) have implemented a series of initiatives to foster cooperation across various sectors, focusing particularly on trade and tourism.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Nghia, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, shared: "By integrating multiple trade promotion activities, the expo will create a strong ripple effect, achieving the dual goals of enhancing business connections and boosting imports and exports, especially the export of Vietnamese goods to China."

At the expo, alongside direct sales to consumers, businesses from both Vietnam and China are aiming to strengthen supply-demand connections, develop distribution systems, and meet the diverse consumption needs of the public, with a particular focus on promoting exports.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Hong, representative of Cat Hai Seafood Processing and Service Joint Stock Company (Cat Hai District, Hai Phong City), shared:
"After researching, we recognized that the Vietnam-China International Trade and Tourism Expo is large-scale and internationally oriented, so we registered to showcase our products with the goal of signing contracts and partnering with Chinese businesses to bring Cat Hai fish sauce to the Chinese market soon."

The Vietnam-China International Trade and Tourism Expo not only promotes trade development, especially facilitating the exchange of goods between Vietnam and China, but also plays a crucial role in expanding the tourism market.

Mr. Nguyen Dang An, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, shared that in September 2024, the Lang Son Geopark was recognized as a UNESCO Global Geopark. This recognition presents an opportunity for Lang Son Province to attract investment and boost tourism. Through the Vietnam-China International Trade and Tourism Expo, tourism promotion agencies and businesses in the tourism sector will focus on showcasing the province's tourism potential and strengths, seeking partnership opportunities, and negotiating cooperation agreements to invest in the tourism sector in Lang Son. Particularly, the aim is to develop and expand the domestic and international tourist market, with a focus on attracting Chinese tourists.

Mr. Hoang Xuan Thuan, Director of the Lang Son Provincial Center for Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion and Deputy Head of the Expo's Organizing Committee, explained:
"The expo is organized annually on a rotating basis between Lang Son (Vietnam) and Pingxiang (Guangxi, China), under the direction of the Lang Son Provincial People's Committee and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Over the years, the number of participating enterprises has significantly increased, and through the expo’s activities, economic, trade, and tourism cooperation between Lang Son (Vietnam) and Guangxi (China) has strengthened, contributing to the overall development of Vietnam-China relations."

With the theme "Connection – Cooperation – Development," the expo organizers hope that the event will create more opportunities for businesses to connect with each other and with consumers, promote export-import activities, and showcase the tourism potential and strengths of both countries' regions. This will not only drive trade and tourism development between Vietnam and China but also enhance solidarity, friendship, and cooperation between Lang Son (Vietnam) and Guangxi (China), further strengthening the comprehensive and friendly neighborly relations between the two nations.