Rubber demand and prices have increased in the first months of this year, and this has enabled Vietnamese enterprises to reduce their dependence on small-scale border transactions, said Dinh Van Tien, head of the Vietnam Rubber Group's Import-Export department.

Many Chinese firms were also choosing to import from companies making high quality products, he added.
Large companies with modern technology typically export their products to the US, EU, Japan, India and the Republic of Korea, Tien said.

"Official export is the best way to ensure long-term business and limit risks in payment," he said.

Tran Thi Thuy Hoa, general secretary of the Vietnam Rubber Association, told the Sai Gon Tiep Thi (Saigon Marketing) newspaper that rubber export to China through small trade has fallen, making it easier for many association members to officially export rubber to their Chinese counterparts.

Last year, as many as 165 of a total of 208 companies engaged in exporting rubber to China were dependent on small trade.

"We are focusing our production on long-term contracts," said Huynh Tan Sieu, head of Binh Long Rubber Limited Company's planning and investment department.

He said administrative procedures with Chinese traders at the Luc Lam Border Gate are very simple, but the same cannot be said of Chinese trade policy.

Chinese authorities apply a tax of 25 percent on official rubber imports but nothing for small trade transactions.

VNA