HANOI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam made export turnovers of over 97.8 billion U.S. dollars, and import turnovers 100.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, creating a trade deficit of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Friday.
Vietnam's exports rose 18.9 percent, and its imports surged 24.1 percent between January and June, In the same period last year, enjoying a trade surplus of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.
In the first six months of this year, Vietnam earned nearly 47.8 billion U.S. dollars from exporting heavy industrial products and minerals, up 26.8 percent on-year; roughly 37 billion U.S. dollars from light industrial products and handicrafts, up 11 percent; 9.5 billion U.S. dollars from agricultural and forest products, up 16 percent; and 3.6 billion U.S. dollars from seafood, up 15.6 percent, said the office.
The United States was Vietnam's biggest export market which spent 19.6 billion U.S. dollars importing Vietnamese goods in the first half of this year, up 9.5 percent, followed by the European Union, China and the ASEAN. Meanwhile, Vietnam imported many products from China, South Korea and the ASEAN.
