China remains the largest importer of Vietnamese products as most of Vietnam’s export staples have been shipped to nowhere other than its northern neighbor in the first six months of this year, local customs statistics reveal.

Vietnam posted US$71.11 billion exports in the year’s first half, a 15.3 percent increase from a year earlier, the Vietnam Customs said in a report released on July 18.

Imports stood at $69.60 billion, up 11 percent from the same period last year.

China is still the main market for most of Vietnam’s export staples, including rice, rubber, coal, computers, and electronic products and parts.

Vietnam exported nearly 3.3 million tons of rice in the first six months of the year, nearly 40 percent of which, or 1.3 million tons, were shipped to China.

Vietnamese rice exports to China were valued at $576 million, a 5.4 percent increase in volume and 8.9 percent increase in value, according to the Vietnam Customs figures.

The Southeast Asian country’s rubber shipments to China, meanwhile, stood at 139,000 tons, or $248 million. Even though these figures present a 23.6 percent decline in volume and 42.6 percent slump in value compared to the same period in 2013, China still accounted for 39.8 percent of the total rubber export turnovers of Vietnam in the Jan-Jun period.

Coal exports in the first six months nearly halved from a year earlier to only 4.6 million tons, but China still topped the list of importers, having imported 2.97 million tons, or 63.91 percent, from Vietnam.

China even surpassed the U.S. and Hong Kong to become the largest importer of electronic products and parts from Vietnam.

Exports of such commodities to China dropped 18.8 percent year on year to $926 million, accounting for 20.1 percent of the total turnovers.

The Jan-Jun shipments of Vietnamese-made footwear products to China, meanwhile, jumped 38.1 percent from a year earlier to $232 million, standing only behind the U.S., Japan and the EU.

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