During rush hours, a growing number of electric bikes can be seen in Hanoi' s narrow streets, weaving in and out of the heavy traffic along with motorcycles and scooters.
A large portion of the electric bikes on Vietnam's roads are Chinese branded, as Chinese electric bike manufacturers, attracted by huge market opportunities, have built factories in the country, which is known as "a motorcycle kingdom".
GROWING ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT
Over a year ago, China's Yadea Science and Technology Company settled in an industrial park in Hanoi. Now, it has an 8,000-square-meter factory with a monthly production capacity of around 12,000 electric bikes.
Inside Yadea's workshop, employees are busy assembling component parts on the production line, which churns out a shiny electric bike every a few minutes. In the warehouse, electric bikes are placed in an orderly fashion.
Some of them are sought after in the Vietnamese market while others are strongly favored by Chinese customers. "Vietnam is known as 'a motorcycle kingdom'.
However, motorcycles are costly and environmentally unfriendly. Now, more and more people in Vietnam have turned to use electric bikes," Yadea's General Manager Lv Gang told Xinhua in an interview.
Yadea's success in Hanoi is a microcosm of the growing trade and economic engagement between China and Vietnam, offering a glimpse into the promising future of their mutually-beneficial cooperation in production capacity.
Official statistics show that bilateral trade volume reached 64.1 billion U.S. dollars in the first three quarters of 2015, up 12 percent year-on-year. China has been Vietnam's largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years, while Vietnam became China's second-largest partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2014.
HUGE COOPERATION POTENTIAL
What's heartening is that capacity cooperation between Vietnam and China is set to display greater potential as the "Belt and Road" initiative proposed by China and Vietnam' s "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan might hook up.
The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road initiative is meant to strengthen cooperation in international trade and infrastructure projects.
Vietnam' s plan was proposed by its leaders during a visit to China in May 2004, with an aim to strengthen economic links among 10 Chinese and Vietnamese provinces and municipalities.
When Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli separately in Beijing in mid-September, both sides agreed to align the initiative with the plan to promote cooperation in industrial capacity, trade and investment, and other areas.
"The implementation of the 'Belt and Road' initiative will definitely further facilitate trade relations between China and Vietnam and promote economic growth in the Southeast Asian region, " Yadea's Lv said.
Believing his company will continue to grow thanks to the initiative, Lv said that it is vital to ensure product quality so as to secure a place in the Vietnamese market.
"We are planning to expand our business to southern Vietnam and promote our products at big supermarkets in the country. Our goal is to export Yadea's products from Vietnam to the whole ASEAN market," Lv added.
Yadea is not the only Chinese company that is eager to seize the business opportunities brought over by the "Belt and Road" initiative. A growing number of Chinese firms are trying to explore new markets here, especially those in high-tech sector with high added value.
Vina Solar Technology Company, which engages in photovoltaic module manufacturing, is one of them. Since its establishment in April 2014, Vina Solar has been expanded six times and is on the way to become China's biggest overseas company engaged in photovoltaic module manufacturing.
Yang Yongzhi, general manager of Vina Solar told Xinhua, that the production capacity cooperation do not mean the transfer of outdated technology. "Bringing outdated technology to Vietnam is not a right long-term business strategy" as only high-quality capacity cooperation could ensure sustainable development amid throat-cutting competition, he said.
Ngo Thi Thuy, who works for Vina Solar, said that Chinese investment coupled with advanced technology create jobs for the Vietnamese and benefit her country. China is ranked the 9th largest foreign investor in Vietnam with about 8.24 billion U.S. dollars invested in 1,193 projects in the Southeast Asian country. The prospect for capacity cooperation between the two countries are promising.
BUILDING INDUSTRIAL PARKS
Building industrial parks in Vietnam has been regarded as a mainstream and ideal way to promote China-Vietnam capacity cooperation as such parks can help lower costs and risks.
"Van Trung has great advantages in geographic location," Yang said when explaining why the company chose Van Trung Industrial Park as production base.
Being close to the Hai Phong seaport, the border with China and the Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi, Van Trung in Bac Giang province makes an ideal place for Vina Solar.
The construction of Van Trung industrial park started in July 2013. Since then, 30 standard factory buildings have been built in an area of 165,000 square meters.
Eight of the 13 companies operating in Van Trung are from China. Except for one garment factory, all the others are high-tech enterprises, said Yao Ziran, general director of Fu Hua company, the owner of the park.
Currently, 50 factory buildings are under construction in the fifth, sixth and seventh phases of the development plan as Vietnam is seeing an increasing influx of Chinese investors.
Fu Hua is also building another industrial park in northern Vinh Phuc province for high-tech companies from China. "We stand ready to seize the opportunities brought over by the Belt and Road initiative and the Two Corridors and One Economic Circle plan," Yao said.
Editor's note: Chinese President Xi Jinping pays his first state visit to Vietnam and Singapore on Nov. 5-7 in a trip set to open up new prospects for China's relations both with the two countries and with Southeast Asia as a whole.
Xinhua is wiring a series of in-depth stories about the two-nation Asia tour, China-Vietnam and China-Singapore ties, and Beijing's neighborhood and overall foreign policy.
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