Import of 6 items reaching over 1 billion USD
The latest statistics from Ministry of Industry and Trade show that import turnover of goods in January 2025 reached 30.06 billion USD, down 14.1% compared to the previous month. Of which, domestic economic sector reached 10.89 billion USD, down 22.2%; foreign-invested sector reached 19.17 billion USD, down 8.7%. Compared to the same period last year, import turnover of goods in January 2025 decreased by 2.6%, of which domestic economic sector decreased by 3.3%; the foreign-invested sector decreased by 2.2%.
Regarding structure of imported goods in January 2025, group of goods requiring import is estimated at 26.87 billion USD, accounting for 89% of total import turnover of goods nationwide; group of goods requiring import control is estimated at 1.5 billion USD, accounting for 5% of total import turnover.
Regarding import market of goods in January 2025, Chinese market is the largest market supplying goods to Vietnam with an estimated turnover of 11.6 billion USD, down 2.2% compared to the same period in 2024 and accounting for 38.6% of total import turnover of goods nationwide.
Report of General Department of Customs detailed that in January, there were 6 groups of imported goods with a turnover of 1 billion USD or more.
Leading were computers, electronic products and components with 9.73 billion USD. Our country's imports of this group of goods are mainly from the following markets: China with 3.22 billion USD, up 23.6% over the same period in 2024; South Korea with 2.68 billion USD, up 19.9%; Taiwan (China) with 1.53 billion USD, up 31.2%...
Ranking second is machinery, equipment, tools, spare parts with a turnover of approximately 4 billion USD. This result is quite similar to the same period last year.
Machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts are imported the most from China with a turnover of 2.54 billion USD, accounting for 63.64% of the total import turnover of this group of goods nationwide, a slight increase of nearly 40 million USD compared to the same period in 2024.
The remaining billion-dollar group is textiles and garments with a turnover of approximately 1.1 billion USD, down 8% compared to the same period in 2024.
Similar to many other key import groups, China is also the market from which Vietnam imports the most textiles and garments with a proportion of up to 71.48% (the total import turnover of this group of goods from China in January was 772 million USD). Compared to the same period last year, the import turnover of this group of goods from China decreased by 40 million USD.
Enhancing competitiveness and trade balance
In an interview with a reporter from Industry and Trade Newspaper, economic expert Vu Vinh Phu said that Vietnam currently imports a lot of goods from China. Most of them are raw materials for production, which is not a concern. However, Vietnam also imports a lot of agricultural products and consumer goods from this country. Therefore, it is necessary to improve competitiveness of domestic goods to increase exports to this market, thereby helping to reduce the deficit and balance the trade balance.
Specifically, businesses must invest in improving standards and quality of goods to be competitive with products from other countries in the Chinese market. In addition, improve transportation capacity and reduce logistics costs to improve competitiveness of businesses. This requires not only Ministry of Industry and Trade but also Ministry of Transport and localities sharing the border to participate in improving traffic system, investing in building warehouses near the border...

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn