HCMC to open cross-border truck road linking to 'China's big data capital' Guiyang city

Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam and Guiyang city of China’s Guizhou province plan to boost economic cooperation, including opening a truck road linking Vietnam to the Guiyang free trade zone and building a bonded warehouse based in Hanoi.

Guiyang Secretary Hu Zhongxiong made the commitment at a trade promotion event on Tuesday. They also plan to soon reopen the HCMC-Guiyang air route.

Guiyang city, with a population of 6.4 million, is among the localities with highest GRDP (gross regional domestic product) growth in China in the last decade. It has become an integral part of China’s southwestern region, he added.

Chinese consul general in HCMC Wei Huaxiang said Guiyang is a key part of China’s traffic infrastructure for the western region. New energy and big data have developed strongly in the city recently, turning Guiyang into the “big data capital” of China and China’s “Eastern Data, Western Computing” plan.

As the southern region of Vietnam, especially HCMC, is pushing digitalization, industrial growth, green energy, innovative tourism, and high-tech industry, the Vietnamese side and Guiyang can collaborate and complement each other. The sky is the limit, the diplomat emphasized.

On the same page, Le Truong Hien Hoa, vice head of HCMC's Tourism Department, said reopening the HCMC-Guiyang air route can help the tourism sectors of the two sides.

HCMC is commited to cooperating with Guiyang, per the Vietnam-China friendship. 2025 is a milestone of 75th anniversary of Vietnam-China relations, he added.

Nguyen Huu Nam, vice head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), emphasized that growing the strategic and comprehensive Vietnam-China business community would help develop the bilateral ties, especially trade. The two countries aim to soon reach $200 billion in two-way trade, he added.

Registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam totaled $27.26 billion in the first 10 months of this year, up 1.9% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Singapore, mainland China, and South Korea were the top with $7.79 billion, $3.61 billion, and $3.56 billion, respectively.

Vietnam posted a trade surplus $23.31 billion in the first 10 months of this year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). The country spent $117.7 billion on importing goods and earned $508 billion from exporting goods to China, up 31.6% and 2.1% year-on-year, respectively.

China was Vietnam’s biggest import market and second-biggest export market.