An electronic trading floor, which offers on-line transaction tools and trade- related data to enterprises, especially those in Vietnam and China, was launched Wednesday in Lao Cai Province.

The establishment of the e-trading floor will facilitate trade and investment in Vietnam and China, especially their border localities, helping the construction of e-commerce systems in northern Lao Cai province, said Nguyen Ngoc Kim, vice chairman of the provincial People's Committee at the launching ceremony.

Over 300 Vietnamese and Chinese have registered to participate in the floor which is written in Vietnamese, Chinese and English. The floor allows users to conduct on-line transactions, and access information about trade and investment in Vietnam, China and many other countries.

Vietnam's import and export turnovers with China via the Lao Cai international border gate are estimated at 400 million US dollars this year, up more than 33.3 percent against last year, Kim said.

Economic and trade relations between the two countries have gained encouraging results in recent years with China having become Vietnam's biggest trading partner, and Chinese statistics show the two-way trade reached 6.74 billion dollars in 2004, an all time high.

In early 2004, the leaders of Vietnam and China set the target of posting two-way trade at 5 billion dollars in 2005 and 10 billion dollars in 2010.

Source: Xinhua