Vietnamese bird’s nest products enter China

China is the world largest bird’s nest consuming market with a demand of more than 300 tonnes per year, accounting for about 80% of the global consumption.

The first batch of Vietnamese bird's nests has smoothly gone through customs at the Youyi Guan international border gate in Pingxiang city, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. (Photo: Guangxi Television of China)

Chinese data showed that China imported 220 tonnes of bird’s nests in 2020, more than 300 tonnes in 2021 and 425 tonnes in 2022, mostly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and now Vietnam.

In Vietnam, swift farming for nests for commercial purposes is a new industry, which started in 2004 in southern provinces and has since developed rapidly over the last decade.

Currently, 42 out of 63 provinces engage in bird's nest farming with over 22,000 bird's nest houses. Vietnam's annual bird's nest output is about 150 tonnes worth over 600 million USD. With the effectiveness of the protocol with China, the bird's nest industry has many opportunities for development.

Following durian and dragon fruit, the export of bird’s nests of Vietnam to China are expected to bring high export value for the country.