Vietnam Posts $10B Surplus in 2025, Deficit with China Hits $66B

Vietnam posted a $10.2B trade surplus in 2025, but a surging $66.5B deficit with China underscores deepening supply chain dependencies.
A worker at a garment factory in Vietnam's Thai Nguyen Province on July 2, 2025. Vietnam posted a $10.2B trade surplus in 2025, but a surging $66.5B deficit with China underscores deepening supply chain dependencies. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)

Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of $10.18 billion in the first seven months of 2025, while foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges soared to $24.09 billion, the strongest combined performance since before the pandemic, according to new data released Wednesday by the National Statistics Office.

But behind the headline surplus, widening trade deficits with China and other Asian suppliers underscored structural dependencies within regional supply chains.

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by Edwin Shri Bimo

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