Vietnamese exports of rubber and coal to China are predicted to rise by 15.6 percent and 21.6 percent respectively this year, according to local newspaper Vietnam Economic Times newspaper on Tuesday.

Vietnam is likely to reap 600 million U.S. dollars and 450 million dollars from exporting rubber and coal, respectively, to China in 2006, the newspaper quoted the prediction of the Vietnamese Trade Ministry.

This year, Vietnam is forecast to export 1.15 billion dollars worth of crude oil to China, down 0.86 percent against last year.

According to Vietnamese trade experts, the two-way trade between Vietnam and China will surpass 10 billion dollars in 2006, up from over 8 billion dollars in 2005. Now, over half of Vietnam's export turnovers to China come from crude oil, coal and rubber.

Vietnam shipped abroad, mainly to China, Singapore, Japan, England and the United States, 4.19 million tons of crude oil worth 1.99 billion dollars in the first quarter of this year, down 10.4 percent in volume but up 16.1 percent in value against the same period last year, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

Between January and March, Vietnam sold 5.72 million tons of coal totaling 169 million dollars, and 162,000 tons of rubber valued at 261 million dollars in the world market.

Source: Xinhua