The sale of Chinese products have decreased sharply in both traditional markets and supermarkets in Vietnam, forcing retailers to find alternative suppliers.
Ho Quoc Nguyen, public relations director of Big C Vietnam, a large distribution network, said the supermarket chain’s board of management noticed a considerable decrease in the sale of Chinese toys earlier this year.
Sharper sale decreases have been seen since early May when China deployed an oil rig in Vietnamese territorial waters, triggering tensions in the East Sea.
The significant decrease in the sale of Chinese goods has also been reported by Metro Cash & Carry, a veteran German distributor in Vietnam.
In fact, Vietnamese began turning their backs on Chinese goods years ago, before China carried out the illegal act in the East Sea, because in their thoughts, Chinese goods always mean low-quality and toxic products.
Vietnamese agencies recently announced they discovered a series of consignments of imports from China, including toys, clothes and food, containing toxins.
Most recently, Vietnam has sent documents to Chinese agencies, requesting the Chinese side to explain why 300 tons of contaminated food was sent to Vietnam.
Prior to that, Vietnamese agencies discovered contaminated fruits in 17 consignments of goods imported to Vietnam.
According to Metro, 90 percent of products available at the distribution chain are Vietnam-made products, while the other 10 percent are imports, including Chinese. However, Chinese goods displayed there are mostly non-food products.
Meanwhile, Saigon Co-op, the Vietnamese biggest retail chain, said from the very beginning, the retailer tried to restrict the sale of Chinese imports. There is no room for Chinese fresh food and fruit on the shelves at Saigon Co-op.
The retailer stopped selling Chinese fruits three years ago. At present, 90 percent of fruits available at the chain are domestically made, while the other 10 are imports from the US, New Zealand, Chile and South Africa.
Phap Luat Vietnam has reported that Vietnamese now tend to use Thai products instead of Chinese products.
The newspaper quoted a market analyst as saying that Thai goods are 15-20 percent more expensive than Chinese products, but the Thai goods have higher quality and are cheaper than products from Japan or South Korea.
