HANOI - The total revenue of border trade between Vietnam and China hit $2.61 billion in the first half of 2014, up 13 percent year-on-year, according to Vietnam's Border Trade Steering Committee.

Statistics of the committee show that the bilateral border trade maintained uptrend with an average growth of 4 percent per month.

During the six-month period, Vietnam enjoyed a surplus of $800 million in border trade, up 126 percent year-on-year, local Tien Phong (Pioneer) online newspaper quoted the committee as saying on Wednesday.

Rice was the item having the largest export revenue during the period. A total of 529,000 tons of rice worth some $198 million was exported to China from January to June. Around 97 percent of the rice was exported to China through the border gate in northern Lao Cai province, some 354 km north of Hanoi, said the committee.

Vietnam exported nearly 96,400 tons of fresh litchi and over 152,600 tons of watermelon to China via border, earning $62.2 million and $9.1 million, respectively.

Despite the growth, Vietnam is still in great need to complete, amend and supplement decisions, policies relating boundary residents, in order to deal with tax fraud and ensure smooth border trade, said Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu.

China remained the biggest exporter to Vietnam in the six months, as Vietnam spent around $20.4 billion buying goods from China during the period, up 21.1 percent year-on-year.

As for the total trade between the two countries, Vietnam saw a deficit of some $13.1 billion, up 21.2 percent year-on- year, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.

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