In Vietnam's south-central province of Binh Thuan, many locals are said to be helping Chinese traders manipulate the dragon fruit market. Le Thi Ngoc, director of Ngoc Ha, a local import-export business, claimed that many dragon fruit businesses are unable to compete with underground Chinese traders working there.
“They used to stand outside the Tan Thanh border gate to order dragon fruit, but now they are going directly to the source,” Ngoc said.
The Vietnamese trader added it is not an issue if the Chinese buy at a high price, as local people will benefit.
“However, what they often do is initially offer a high price and then drastically lower it once they receive the order, justifying it with all kinds of reasons,” she added.
Ngoc also revealed that several companies owned by Vietnamese on paper are actually run and managed by Chinese.
“Many Chinese have come here and asked me to represent them lawfully while they buy the dragon fruits themselves, but I refused,” Ngoc said.
Hanh, the owner of a local dragon fruit business, said that before the Chinese arrived, her business collected 20 metric tons of dragon fruit daily, but it is now only buying around ten tons, resulting in losses of almost VND1 billion (US$44,480) per month.
Tuan, another dragon fruit farmer, revealed that prices are abysmally low, currently available at only VND5,000 (22 cents) to VND6,000 (27 cents) per kg.
On August 8, a reporter from Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper visited a dragon fruit trading facility in Binh Thuan, Vietnam’s dragon fruit hub, and attempted to purchase the fruits to trade domestically, only to receive a rejection from a Vietnamese-speaking Chinese man.
At another dragon fruit trading facility named Xuan Tinh, at least three Chinese men were supervising workers packing dragon fruits.
Despite efforts by Binh Thuan’s administration to crack down on illegal Chinese traders using tourist visas, there seems to be no end in sight for the dragon fruit farms and businesses in the province.
