According to Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao website on November 26, online shopping for Chinese goods is becoming more and more popular in Vietnam, in addition to a wide variety of mass-produced Chinese goods are cheaper than local Vietnamese goods in terms of price and shipping costs, and even shorter shipping time.

Vu Thi Thu Huong, who lives in Ho Chi Minh City, is a loyal customer of the e-commerce platform, and over the years she has purchased a wide range of Chinese goods online, including cosmetics, cell phone accessories and household utensils.

Speaking to Vietnamese media, she said, "With low prices and shipping costs and fast transportation, it's much more affordable than shopping locally, so many people and I choose to buy Chinese goods."

Citing an electric kettle as an example, she pointed out that the shipping cost from China to Ho Chi Minh City is VND17,000 (about $5 - our note), while if purchased from Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, the shipping cost is VND20,000 and VND60,000, respectively.

Hoang Thanh Hang, who also lives in Ho Chi Minh City, said she used to buy clothes from Chinese e-commerce platforms through Vietnamese intermediaries, but over the past two to three years, Chinese stores have moved into Vietnamese e-commerce platforms, so she can place orders directly with Chinese stores. She said Chinese clothes are not only cheaper than those in Vietnam, but also have more styles and are more fashionable. Besides buying clothes, she also buys Chinese household appliances and cosmetics.

According to transportation companies, Vietnam's demand for Chinese goods will peak as the year draws to a close, the report said. Some companies have also sent their employees to China to find warehouses to stock up on New Year's goods ahead of the Lunar New Year. A shopkeeper specializing in Chinese goods said that after buyers place an order, the goods can be delivered to warehouses in China within 24 hours for sorting, then shipped to northern Vietnam before being sent across the country. Generally, Hanoi customers can receive Chinese goods within three days after placing an order; by contrast, shipments between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City take longer, four to seven days.

Pham Tat, general director of Vietnam's e-commerce platform Fado, revealed that China has introduced policies to support local enterprises to export their products to Southeast Asian markets, including Vietnam, after tensions between China and the United States made it difficult for Chinese goods to be exported to Europe and the United States.

Fado said that Chinese companies have enough resources for mass production to realize economies of scale and reduce costs. Some Chinese businesses also set up warehouses near the China-Vietnam border, so cross-border deliveries can be made to Vietnam within eight hours. In addition, if the order is canceled, the goods will not be shipped back to China, but stored in Vietnam, encountered promotions on the e-commerce platform to sell, within a day to the hands of customers.