Illustration: Tang Tengfei/GT

To expand exports to China, an official from Vietnam's ministry of agriculture and environment said the country's agricultural sector must shift from output-driven growth to a new model focused on quality, value addition and low-carbon development, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday.

In 2025, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports to China reached about $5.5 billion.

Beyond traceability, the industry must also place greater emphasis on deep processing to secure stable access to the Chinese market. This not only mitigates the risks associated with fresh fruit exports but also aligns with the evolving consumption trends of Chinese consumers, the official noted. 

Vietnam's proactive move to align with China's import standards demonstrates a pragmatic approach among Southeast Asian exporters to deepen engagement with the Chinese market. 

Across the region, other ASEAN members are improving cold-chain logistics and processing capacities to better serve the Chinese market. As a result, China's imports of premium agricultural products - Thai durians, Cambodian mangoes, Philippine bananas, Malaysian jackfruits and more - have all been climbing steadily these days. 

ASEAN now stands as China's largest agricultural trading partner, and this thriving bilateral trade embodies a mutually beneficial two-way dynamic. On the supply side, exporting countries are continuously enhancing product quality and supply chain resilience. On the demand and policy side, China's domestic market and opening-up measures provide the other crucial pillar.

China's consumer spending continues to upgrade, with dietary preferences shifting from basic sustenance to healthier, more diverse, and higher‑quality options. The country's vast domestic market - home to more than 1.4 billion people - generates steady and substantial import demand. 

On the policy front, China has steadily advanced high‑level institutional opening‑up. And with the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the continuous upgrading of the China-ASEAN free trade area, an increasing number of ASEAN fruits have gained easier access to the Chinese market. 

Meanwhile, steadily improving customs clearance efficiency has enabled fruit to reach consumers more quickly. Customs authorities across China have been advancing smart supervision and trade facilitation reforms in clearance procedures, which has created a crucial window of freshness for ASEAN fruit. 

In addition, logistics networks, including cold chain trains on the China-Laos Railway and the New International Land Sea Trade Corridor, have continuously improved, significantly enhancing transport efficiency and further reducing the costs of tropical fruit entering the Chinese market.

It is worth noting that domestic demand potential does not automatically translate into trade gains. While the Chinese market presents clear opportunities, consumer demand is undergoing a profound structural transformation - moving away from a simple focus on quantity toward a greater emphasis on quality, health and diversity. This shift is not a contraction but an upgrade, one that calls for higher standards and superior quality from suppliers. 

Expanding exports, however, is never a one-sided effort; it demands coordinated action from both the supply and the demand sides. Without mutual commitment, the room for growth will remain limited.

In this sense, Vietnam's agricultural transformation efforts serves as a vivid example of the upgrading China-ASEAN agricultural cooperation, marking a shift from extensive volume expansion to refined, higher-quality development. China continues to open its market wider, releasing sustained dividends from RCEP policies, improving cross-border logistics and robust domestic consumption. These opportunities, fully accessible to Southeast Asian economies, ultimately favor proactive and collaborative partners. 

Future growth in bilateral agricultural trade depends on joint progress in rule alignment, standard coordination, and industrial chain integration. With exporting countries advancing quality-oriented industrial upgrading and China optimizing opening policies and cooperative mechanisms, both sides can fully unlock trade potential, enabling China-Southeast Asia agricultural cooperation to achieve long-term, stable and mutually prosperous development.