By CGTN's Wu Lei

Trade has been booming along China's border with Vietnam in recent years, and the southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been a gateway to access Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.

Huang Chunlian,a fruit wholesaler in Pingxiang,    southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said fruits will be delivered to major cities across China, and her annual sales volume and profits have increased annually. Huang told CGTN that her average profit grows nearly 20-30 percent per year. Huang said they are expanding the imported fruit categories, because nowadays more and more Chinese consumers can afford to buy imported fruits, and fruits imported from Southeast Asia are especially popular.

At the same time, many Vietnamese traders come to buy Chinese fruits that can't be planted in their country. Nguyen Van Manh is one of them. "I have been importing Chinese fruits including apples and pears for the past three years. Every day I import a fully loaded truck and resell them in Vietnam," he said. 

The fruit trade volume accounted for nearly 30 percent of the total fruit trade between the two sides. In addition to fruits, trucks fully loaded with furniture, electronic products, and machinery cross the border every day.

Ma Jixian, deputy director of the Department of Commerce in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region told CGTN that "In 2016, Guangxi's border trade volume reached 145 billion Yuan, about 3 percent increase over 2015. The border trade has accounted for about 45 percent of Guangxi's total import and export volume. It also accounts for about 20 percent of China's total trade volume with Vietnam."

From 2006 to 2015, Guangxi's trade volume with ASEAN has increased from 1.83 billion to 29 billion US dollar, a four-fold increase in just a decade. From fruits to machinery and furniture, Guangxi has taken advantage of its geographic location to boost its border trade with Vietnam and other ASEAN countries. The growing economic cooperation has spurred optimism from residents along both sides of the border, confident of benefiting from the increased trade.