Joint-venture producers, meanwhile, are moving to cut their prices. Vietnam's textile and garment firms are taking a different tack by focusing on more upscale markets in the United States and Europe. Vietnam is also trying to even out the trade balance by selling more crude oil and natural rubber to China, which is now the second-largest importer of Vietnamese products after Japan. In the northern province of Lao Cai, Vietnamese porters wheel bicycles piled with bananas across a bridge linking the two nations. On the Chinese side, Vietnamese scoop up bolts of cloth and armloads of sweaters, electronics, and floor tiles.
Big trucks roll across the border toward Hanoi while Chinese tourists sashay home empty-handed.
True, Vietnam has successfully fought Chinese domination in such markets as plastics, beer and bicycles. But officials say they still have a lot to learn. This year, for example, Vietnamese customs officers will go to China to study computerized management of trade so they can keep more-comprehensive records on imports, exports and duties. We should help each other to be equal. Review Publishing Company Limited, Hong Kong.