Hanoi (VNA) – The business environment in Vietnam has been increasingly improved since the birth of the Law on Foreign Investment, Economꦿic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam Hu Suo Jin has said in an interview granted to Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper.

The diplomat, who has been in Vietnam for 15 years, said the law has been supplemented and revised for many times to build a more favourable environment for overseas investors, including those from China. In particular, the new Law on Investment adopted in July 2015 created an even more open, equal and flexible foreign investment climate, he added. According to Hu, many Chinese firms hope to step up investment in Vietnam in the coming time, especially after the country participates in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, which has high standards but also opens up a variety of opportunities. In addition, the establishment of the ASEAN Community in late 2015 on three pillars: politics-security, economics, and culture-society not only brings opportunities for economic ties between China and ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular, he said, adding that China supports ASEAN’s bid to promote the regional single market. He noted that Chinese businesses are interested in all cooperation fields relating to the ASEAN Economic Community, especially garment-textile, real estate, services and tourism. The diplomat cited Vietnam’s statistics that showed two-way trade surpassed 66 billion USD in 2015, a year-on-year rise of 13.3 percent, helping China reinforce its position as the biggest trade partner of Vietnam for the 12th consecutive year. Currently, China is the largest import market and the fourth largest export market of Vietnam while Vietnam is the second biggest trade partner of China among 10 ASEAN nations. China has over 1,280 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Vietnam with the total registered capital of nearly 10 billion USD, ranking ninth among foreign investors in the Southeast Asian country. Popular Vietnamese products in the Chinese market include timber and fine arts products and dried fruits.-VNA