In Vietnam, pig prices have fallen recently following a sudden drop in buying by Chinese traders, with some Vietnamese farmers left in debt, according to media reports.

These reports exposed a tough problem faced by the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA): a lack of sufficient communication among the various countries.

A wider range of products have enjoyed zero-tariff access to markets across the region since CAFTA took effect in 2010, but the lack of effective exchanges of information is still one of the key obstacles to connecting the markets in China and ASEAN countries.

The problem is particularly serious for trading of farm produce such as pork. Data from China's National Bureau of Statistics shows that the country's pork prices have soared since the beginning of the year, rising 26.4 percent year-on-year in the first four months.

This prompted Chinese traders to purchase more Vietnamese pigs, which are much cheaper than in China. China's total pork imports rose by 116.8 percent year-on-year in March, according to Chinese customs data.

Vietnamese media outlet Tuoi Tre News said in a recent report that Dong Nai province in southeastern Vietnam accounted for more than 50 percent of the total number of pigs exported to China.

So the recent falloff in buying by Chinese traders has had a big impact on Vietnamese pig farmers. The authorities have yet to offer any explanation for the buying halt, which came after China's Ministry of Commerce and 12 local governments recently increased the supply of frozen pork from reserves to replenish supplies, a measure that was seen as necessary to help stabilize the market, especially as soaring pork prices had triggered public discontent in China. Chinese traders appear to have reduced their imports to avoid possible losses after the authorities took this measure to stablize pork supplies, but it seems it caught Vietnamese farmers by surprise.

It won't be easy to seamlessly connect the markets in China and ASEAN despite the establishment of the CAFTA. In this regard, communication will be a key aspect. Although the Chinese government's efforts to replenish pork supplies were widely discussed in China, Vietnamese media outlets paid little attention to it. To promote effective exchange of information, we can not simply rely on local media outlets.

It is necessary to enhance coordination among governments in the free trade area and to boost communication among non-government institutions and chambers of commerce.

Given the increasing trade volume between China and ASEAN countries, there is an urgent need to establish a better communication mechanism in the region.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn