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President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam: Marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations and boosting bilateral trade in agriculture, forestry and fisheries
Nurturing the traditional friendship
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping is going to pay a state visit to Vietnam from April 14 to 15. The visit will be made at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Tô Lâm and State President Lương Cường.
Vietnam and China are friendly neighbouring countries, and the peoples of both nations share a long-standing traditional relationship. In 2008, the two countries established a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. It aims to strengthen and deepen Vietnam-China relations in the interests of both peoples and for the sake of peace, stability and prosperity in the region. Bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation has grown increasingly substantial.
In recent years, high-level delegations from the two Parties and States have frequently exchanged visits, elevating Vietnam-China comprehensive cooperation to a new height. Political trust has been strengthened, while economic, trade and investment cooperation maintain its growth momentum. Notably, the agricultural and rural development sector has consistently received close attention and guidance from the leaders of both Parties and States.
For 20 consecutive years, China has remained Vietnam’s largest trading partner. Vietnam is currently China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN.
China is also the largest export market for Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry and fishery products. According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, two-way trade reached US$205 billion in 2024. Of this, Vietnam’s exports amounted to $60.6 billion, while imports rose significantly to $144.6 billion.
The enormous potential of the Chinese market is further reflected in its GDP, which is close to $20 trillion. With a population 14 times that of Vietnam and consistent GDP growth, Chinese consumers are increasingly receptive to Vietnam’s unique agricultural products. China also shares similar cultural traditions and consumption habits with Vietnam. Both countries have maintained economic and trade ties for centuries. Economic and trade relations with China are one of the top priorities in Vietnam’s foreign economic policy.
China shows strong demand for Vietnam’s high-quality agricultural products
During the official overseas visit to China by Party General Secretary Tô Lâm in 2024, Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping affirmed that China is ready to increase imports of high-quality goods from Vietnam, especially agricultural products. The strategic significance of building a ‘Vietnam-China Community with a shared future’ is also emphasised.
Meanwhile, at his official visit to Vietnam in 2024, Chinese Premier Li Qiang affỉmed that China considers Vietnam a priority direction in its neighbourhood diplomacy. China will further open the market to Vietnamese goods, particularly high-quality agricultural, fishery and fruit products.
He also highlighted plans to upgrade trade infrastructure, enhance ‘soft connectivity’ in smart customs systems and explore new models for cross-border economic cooperation.
With a population of over 1.4 billion and a rapidly growing middle class, China is a massive market for high-quality agricultural, forestry and fishery products. Yet Vietnamese agricultural products currently account for less than 5 per cent of China’s total imports in this category. This presents a major opportunity for businesses to expand their market share in China.
In 2024, the bilateral trade turnover in agricultural, forestry and fishery products between Vietnam and China reached $17.8 billion, a 14.6 per cent increase compared to 2023. Of this, Vietnam’s exports to China were estimated at $13.5 billion (up 14.3 per cent year-on-year), while imports were estimated at $4.3 billion (up 21 per cent). China currently accounts for nearly 54 per cent of the total value of Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports. Of this, about 90 per cent of exported lychee volume, 80 per cent of dragon fruit and over 90 per cent of cassava and cassava-based products.
The two sides have signed 24 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and Protocols on the import-export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products. The protocols signed have significantly facilitated Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports to China. Currently, Vietnam is officially exporting 12 types of agricultural products to China. Six items for which two sides have signed official export protocols, including watermelons, mangosteens, black jellies, durians, fresh bananas and sweet potatoes.
Vietnam also exports dairy products, 128 species/product types of seafood products and 48 species of live aquatic animals. Passion fruit and chilli peppers are currently undergoing pilot export procedures.
Enhancing agricultural product quality to meet China’s standards
Vietnam possesses significant agricultural potential, with a wide variety of speciality products highly favoured by Chinese consumers. Its geographic proximity to China gives Vietnam a logistical advantage over other countries. Fresh produce, including vegetables, fruits and seafood, can be transported to China in a short time, helping preserve their natural freshness and quality by the time they reach consumers.
To reaffirm the quality and reputation of Vietnamese agricultural products and expand access to the Chinese market, Vietnam is set to intensify efforts to monitor agricultural exports following China’s import regulations. Key focus areas include regularly updating information on market demand and China’s regulations regarding quality standards and food safety, and strictly managing and monitoring product quality and traceability.
Negotiations on official export will be promoted, ensuring that products meet standardised and synchronised requirements on quality, packaging, labelling, food safety, traceability and national branding (including logos and trademarks). Vietnam will standardise cross-border trade practices and maintain close coordination with China to address and resolve logistical bottlenecks.
Hashtag: #MARD
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Skyro Rolls Out Reusable Digital Credit Across the Philippines, Explores Opportunities in Southeast Asian Markets
SkyroCredit is a reusable, revolving digital credit line that provides access to a fixed credit limit without a plastic and without relying on the Visa or Mastercard networks. Once approved, a customer’s credit is available within the Skyro app and can be used instantly by scanning any QR Ph code, the Philippine QR payment standard accepted at more than 90% of merchant outlets nationwide. Leading merchants include SM, Mercury Drug, Watsons, Jollibee, McDonald’s, and DALI Supermarket. Customers can borrow, repay the amount they have used, and reuse the same credit limit without reapplying.
NasimAliev, Skyro co-founder, said:
“Our goal is to provide access to affordable credit for underserved communities across Southeast Asia at a time when everyday expenses continue to rise and consumers’ financial priorities are evolving.
“Today’s consumers need financial solutions built around real-life spending needs and changing financial priorities. With SkyroCredit, we bring flexible financial solutions to our customers’ fingertips. The credit line offers all the benefits of flexibility, including an interest-free grace period. This provides customers with maximum convenience for everyday use while even allowing them to save money through cashback.
“By expanding our portfolio of point-of-sale loans, cash loans, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products to include flexible credit lines, we are building long-term customer relationships based on everyday use, responsible borrowing, and trust.”
Eligible customers receive initial credit limits of PHP 1,000 to PHP 10,000 (approximately USD 17 to USD 170), with the opportunity to increase their limit to as much as PHP 100,000 through regular, responsible use. Purchases carry 0% interest for up to 45 days. Every purchase also earns 1% cashback, which customers can redeem on future purchases through the app.
Skyro’s expansion into reusable digital credit addresses one of Southeast Asia’s largest financial inclusion opportunities by enabling sustained customer engagement. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, only half of Filipino adults have a formal financial account. As QR-based payment networks continue to expand across the region, Skyro can leverage this infrastructure to deliver accessible digital credit products that meet growing consumer demand.
Hashtag: #Skyro #SkyroCredit #DigitalCredit
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About Skyro
Skyro is a high-growth, digital-first fintech group delivering scalable, responsible access to financial services across high-potential emerging markets. Powered by proprietary data science, AI-driven credit decisioning and alternative data scoring, the company combines a mobile-native experience with modular fintech architecture to serve underserved customer segments at scale.
In just three years, Skyro has grown to serve over one million active customers in the Philippines, underpinned by a robust credit portfolio exceeding $200 million. The company’s strategic ambition is to establish itself as the preeminent full-spectrum financial services group across dozens of emerging markets worldwide.
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Peach Garden Celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival with Singapore Flyer-Inspired Mooncake Keepsake Gift Set
The Singapore Flyer design roots the collection in a recognisably local identity, with the launch timed to the National Day period as the city moves into the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival gifting and reunion season. Pre-orders open from 13 July to 10 August at $61 nett inclusive of GST (usual price: $91.11).
A Keepsake Built Around the Singapore Skyline
Designed around a circular silhouette that echoes the Singapore Flyer’s iconic form, the Graceful Showstopper is crafted to hold its place in a home well beyond the festival.
Rooted in a recognisably Singaporean aesthetic, it functions as a decorative display piece as much as a festive gift, whether set out for a family gathering, presented to a business client, or kept as a personal memento of the season. Logo customisations are available on corporate orders of 50 boxes or more.
Handmade Daily, in a Range Built for Modern Palates
Returning alongside the centrepiece is Peach Garden’s low-sugar mooncake range, available in baked and snowskin varieties. The Deluxe Combination of Four spans four flavours across eight miniature pieces:
- Mini Lemon Yuzu Snowskin
- Mini Pandan Lotus Snowskin with Melon Seed
- Mini Low Sugar White Lotus Snowskin with Macadamia
- Mini Lychee Snowskin with Lychee Martini Truffle
Every mooncake in the range is handmade fresh daily across Peach Garden’s six outlets, a practice the group has maintained amidst an industry where production has shifted increasingly toward automation.
The collection will be available at more than 20 festive kiosks across Singapore for the first time, including Takashimaya from 20 August and VivoCity from 25 August, both through 25 September. Collection is available from 11 August to 25 September at all six Peach Garden outlets, from 11am to 3pm and 6pm to 10pm.
Hashtag: #PeachGarden #GracefulShowstopper #MoonCakeFestival #MidAutumnFestival
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About Peach Garden
Peach Garden is one of Singapore’s leading Chinese restaurant brands, renowned for its contemporary Chinese cuisine, exceptional hospitality, and award-winning festive creations. With six outlets across Singapore, the brand continues to bring families, friends, and businesses together through meaningful dining and gifting experiences.
For much of the past century, urban development followed a relatively straightforward equation: build housing, expand infrastructure and accommodate population growth. This formula is now showing its limitations. As climate risk intensifies, biodiversity declines and cities compete not only for investment but also for talent, developers around the world are now forced to redefine the very nature and purpose of what they build.
From the Gulf to Singapore, and from Scandinavia to Southeast Asia, large-scale urban projects are evolving into integrated ecosystems where mobility, green infrastructure, education, healthcare, digital services and environmental restoration are planned together. The industry paradigm has shifted from constructing buildings to designing places capable of sustaining both economic growth and quality of life over generations.
Vinhomes has initiated a comprehensive repositioning to navigate this global transition.
Known as Vietnam’s largest residential developer, the company is increasingly recognized not merely as a builder of housing projects, but as a creator of large-scale lifestyle ecosystems, communities where urban planning, technology, ecology and public services are conceived as parts of the same system.
When Nature Becomes Urban Infrastructure
For decades, environmental considerations were often introduced after a city’s masterplan had already been completed.
The emerging model reverses that sequence. Across many of its recent developments, Vinhomes operates on the principle that natural systems should become the starting point of planning. Hydrology, coastal conditions, biodiversity and existing vegetation are treated as design inputs that shape the urban layout from the earliest stages.
This philosophy marks a notable departure from conventional large-scale development, particularly in rapidly urbanising markets where natural landscapes have frequently given way to intensive construction.
With more than 30 developments across Vietnam and a land bank equivalent to roughly two-thirds the size of Singapore, Vinhomes has the unusual opportunity to test this planning approach at a metropolitan scale.
Rather than replicating identical urban formulas, each project is designed around the ecological characteristics of its location.
The company maintains that the long-term success of a city should ultimately be measured not by how much has been built, but by whether natural ecosystems continue to thrive decades after residents have moved in. That perspective aligns with an increasingly influential school of urban planning in which green infrastructure is viewed as essential public infrastructure.
Factors Compelling Cities Toward Regeneration
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) frameworks have become standard across global investment. Urban planners, however, are beginning to question whether sustainability alone is sufficient.
Maintaining today’s environmental conditions may no longer be enough if tomorrow’s cities must also respond to rising temperatures, sea-level change and growing demographic pressures.
Vinhomes’ strategic response is crystallized in its ESG++, a framework that extends beyond conventional ESG principles by introducing two additional objectives: Regeneration and resilience.
The distinction is subtle but important.
Regeneration implies restoring ecological systems rather than simply reducing environmental impact. Resilience focuses on designing cities capable of adapting to changing climatic, technological and social conditions over many decades.
Projects such as Vinhomes Green Paradise Can Gio and Vinhomes Global Gates Ha Long are intended to demonstrate how these concepts can be incorporated into large-scale urban planning, combining renewable energy, smart infrastructure and ecological restoration within a single development model.
This shift highlights a growing global consensus: the success of next-generation cities will ultimately be measured by their ability to adapt to increasingly complex environmental challenges.
Vietnam’s Urban Story Is Becoming Part of a Global Conversation
For many international audiences, Vietnam remains associated primarily with its cultural heritage and natural landscapes. Urban development may become an equally important part of that story.
Rapid urbanisation, expanding infrastructure investment and a national commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 have created conditions in which entirely new urban models can be planned without many of the legacy constraints facing older cities.
This developmental opportunity is capturing increasing global interest.
Commenting on Vinhomes Green Paradise’s participation in the global 7 Wonders of Future Cities initiative, Jean-Paul de la Fuente, Director of the New7Wonders Organisation, described Vietnam as undergoing a “transformative step change” in its national identity and global positioning. He pointed to the country’s progress in reducing the carbon footprint of urban mobility as an example of coordinated action between government and the private sector that offers valuable insights extending beyond Southeast Asia.
For Vinhomes, participation in international platforms such as 7 Wonders of Future Cities is therefore less about showcasing a single project than about contributing to a broader discussion on how rapidly developing economies might approach urban growth differently. The company’s evolution mirrors a wider shift taking place across the global property sector.
Increasingly, the core value proposition for developers is no longer anchored in how many buildings they can deliver. Instead, it centers on whether they can create cities that remain economically competitive, environmentally resilient and socially relevant long after construction has ended.
Hashtag: #Vinhomes
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