Vietnam’s banana exports to China increased sharply despite a downward trend among general vegetable and fruit exports.

Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs indicated that the country’s banana export value reached US$237 million in January-August, up 28 percent from the same period last year, mainly due to more shipments to China.

In the first five months, Vietnam was China’s largest banana supplier, providing 42 percent of the latter’s total imports of 742,000 metric tons, followed by the Philippines at 28 percent.

This growth is opposite to the decreasing trend of all other fruit exports to China, according to general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association Dang Phuc Nguyen.

It can be attributed to Vietnam’s geographical location near China, the rise of costs in China, and the negative impact of the Panama disease, also called banana wilt, on the quality of bananas grown in that country, according to Nguyen.

Vietnam’s production of bananas, a fruit that can be harvested all year round, averages about 2.1 million metric tons a year, according to statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In 2021, bananas were also the country’s third-largest export fruit, after dragon fruits and manoes.

In the first nine months of this year, the total export turnover of vegetables and fruits hit $2.4 billion, according to the export-import department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

China remained Vietnam’s largest vegetable and fruit importer during the period, purchasing $1.06 billion worth of products, or 43.3 percent of the Southeast Asian country’s total vegetable and fruit export value.

In a relevant move, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Chinese General Administration of Customs signed a protocol requiring phytosanitary procedures for fresh bananas exported from Vietnam to China on Monday as part of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong’s official visit to China.

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