China, Vietnam forge closer cooperation in rubber business
12/8/2005 11:33
The Hainan Natural Rubber Industry Corporation (HNRIC), China's No.1 rubber
producer, signed a framework cooperation agreement with the Vietnam General
Rubber Corporation on Thursday. The move is regarded as a big step forward in
rubber trade cooperation between China and Vietnam, said Wu Yarong, president of
the Chinese rubber giant, which is based in China's southernmost island province
of Hainan. "The cooperation between the two companies will also help the two
countries play a more important role in the global industry of natural rubber,
giving them more say in the natural rubber price and thus protecting their
interests," said Wu. The cooperation between the two will cover marketing,
research and development, and information sharing, said Wu. HNRIC will
provide its state-run Vietnamese partner with E-commerce service to help it open
up the rubber market in China. Founded earlier this year, HNRIC has
integrated all the state farms in Hainan, where 280,000 tons of natural rubber
are produced annually, accounting for half of China's total output. With 40
subsidiaries and 39 farms, Vietnam General Rubber Corporation (VGRC) is the
largest rubber company in Vietnam. Its annual natural rubber output is more than
300,000 tons, accounting for 70 percent of the country's total
output. "Vietnam is the world's sixth largest rubber producer after China and
our current target is to top three in the world's rubber export," said VGRC's
general director, Le Quang Thung. "China is the largest rubber consumer in
the world and I believe that we have large room for cooperation," said
Le. China consumed 1.85 million tons of rubber in 2004, 1.26 million tons of
which was imported.
Xinhua news
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