The amount of Vietnam’s face masks exported to China in January soared by 260% compared to the average number of 2019, according to Mai Xuan Thanh, deputy director general of the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Illustrative photo.

A surge in the number of Vietnamese face masks to China coincided with the period of the outbreak of the new coronavirus in the neighboring country, said Thanh at a meeting on February 6 as reported by local media.

In two border gates of Huu Nghi and Chi Mai in Lang Son province, over 4.2 millions of medical face masks were exported to China from January 29 – February 3, while hand sanitizers and face masks were fast falling in short supply during this period in Vietnam on fears of the outbreak.

Statistics from Lang Son customs authority revealed in addition to medical face masks, nearly 800,000 of three-, four-, and five-layer face masks were exported to China during this period.

As of February 4, around 150,000 four-layer face masks of a company were waiting for clearance at the Huu Nghi Border Gate for exporting to China. In the Chi Mai Border Gate, the number of face masks were over 1.3 million pieces.

From January 1 to February 3, a company exported nearly four million medical face masks worth over US$92,000 to China.

Thanh also expressed concern that China is tightening export of input materials for face mask production.

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said as the production of face masks depends on input materials from China, the government has decided to waive export duty for such products.

The tax amount forgone due to this exemption is estimated at VND400 – 500 billion (US$17.2 – 21.5 million), stated Hue.

In early February, customs authority in Quang Ninh and Lao Cai seized dozens of thousands of medical face masks on the way to be smuggled to China.

Hanoi’s market surveillance agency on February 4 seized 120,000 medical face masks with no information on origin, which were on the way to Lao Cai province en route to be exported to China.