Sino-Vietnamese Border Trade Relations- under the context of regional integration

Abstract

Since the normalization of Sino-Vietnamese political relations in 1991, especially after the 21st century, China and Vietnam have involved multiple regional economic cooperation. In today's global trend of accelerating regional economic integration, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Vietnam has been deepened, under different framework (GMS, CAFTA, B & R), the scale of trade is also expanding. As an important part of a country's foreign trade, border trade is an effective supplement to conventional trade. China ’s Guangxi and Yunnan provinces are geographically adjacent to Vietnam ’s seven northern provinces, providing a geographical advantage for the development of Sino-Vietnamese border trade. How will regional integration affect the border trade between China and Vietnam? What factors will promote or hinder China-Vietnam border trade? By applying the Border effect theory and the Transformation of the border effect, the impact of different regional economic cooperation to the Sino-Vietnamese is analyzed. Among them, the construction of Economic Cooperation Zones (cross-border) is regarded as the focus of enhancing trade facilitation. Combining the Border shielding effect theory and studies related to the development of the border trade in different regions, four determinants are proposed (Trade Pattern; Policy; Infrastructure; Financial ). Through these four determinants, and taking Guangxi Province as a specific example for analysis, the problems in the status quo of Sino-Vietnamese border trade development can be summarized. Related countermeasures are also proposed, in order to give suggestions on sustainable development of Sino-Vietnamese border trade.