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Chinese rush to collect Vietnam’s seafood, and what’s next?
Chinese businessmen are flocking to Vietnam to collect seafood materials right at the Vietnamese ports as if they are on the home market. Vietnamese fishermen are happy because they can sell seafood at good prices to Chinese businessmen. But no one can say for sure what will happen in the future.
At Vinh Luong fishing port, a small port of Nha Trang City in Khanh Hoa province, though the sea is choppy these days, there are still some 30 fishing boats coming in and out every day.
When Saigon tiep thi’s reporters came, they could see crowds on the quay, where some 10 Chinese merchants, who checked the product samples and negotiated about the prices with Vietnamese fishermen.
Lin Suo Qiang, 40, a Chinese merchant, thoroughly considered every basket of fish and talked to Vietnamese women in Vietnamese. He said that he has been doing business in Vietnam for the last several years.
“Vietnamese seafood products are diversified. The quality is not the most important thing. The decisive thing is the reasonable price. I need to consider the product samples carefully, so that I can buy the fish at the best prices,” he said.
A man, about 60, also said that he is a Chinese businessman, who has been trading with Vietnamese fishermen for the last 8 years. Every time, when boats dock at the port, he was called to come to the port to buy goods.
He said that after collecting seafood materials at the port, he will have the materials carried to the workshops near the port, where the materials will be preliminarily treated before they are shipped to China across the border, through the Lang Son or Mong Cai border gate. The preliminary processing cost is low, just about 1000-2000 dong per kilo.
Also according to the man, Vietnam’s hairfish (Trihiurus muiticus) is very much a favorite in China, and he can sell all the fish he carries from Vietnam.
Pham Thi Kieu, who worked as interpreter for the man, said that some of the Chinese merchants here have been doing business in Vietnam for ten years. Most of them can speak Vietnamese. They learn Vietnamese to more easily make trade.
In general, Vietnamese fishermen also like making trade with Chinese. Le Ngoc Thao, the owner of KH 10509 boat, said that Chinese merchants always wait at the port when they hear the boats are docking.
“I will sell fish to the ones who pay the highest prices. In general, it takes less time to make trade with Chinese merchants,” he said.
Tuan, a Vietnamese merchant, said that that he got involved in many trading deals. Chinese businessmen verified product samples and negotiated about the prices. His duty was weigh fish and carry fish to processing workshops.
“They buy everything, from hairfish, butterfish and puffer. They always pay higher for more poisonous fish, about 20-30,000 dong per kilo,” Tuan said.
More harm than good
According to Nguyen Thanh Hau, Deputy Head of the Vinh Luong fishing port, said that there are about 15 Vietnamese merchants, who help Chinese businessmen collect seafood from Vietnamese fishermen. It is estimated that 5500 tons of seafood has gone through the port so far this year, of which 2/3 has been collected by Chinese businessmen.
However, Hau said, Chinese businessmen do not make purchases these days, when the supply is short and prices go up.
Do Trung Hiep, Head of the Hon Ro fishing port, has warned that a lot of Vietnamese merchants have lost billions of dong, because Chinese businessmen have fled away and refused to pay debts.
Meanwhile, Vo Thien Lang, Deputy Chair of the Vietnam Fishery Association, has warned that the fact that Chinese businessmen collect materials in Vietnam may bring more harm than good. “This may lead to a material shortage crisis. If so, Chinese will export materials back to Vietnam,” Lang said.
vietnamnet, SGTT
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