Made in China at Hanoi's oldest market

Hoa, a 28-year-old male shopkeeper, said if he cannot travel to China, his business partner in China will send him photos and information about Chinese-made products via email or Wechat.

"After I make my order and remit a partial payment, the items will be delivered to me in Vietnam," Hoa said.

"When I have time, I will go to China's Guangxi where I can do the purchasing myself. Many people there speak Vietnamese so I need no interpreter. It would be very easy for me to transact business," Hoa added.

Le Thi D, a 50-year-old textile dealer, said many traders at Dong Xuan have built close business contacts with Chinese partners for a long time.

"About 70 percent of the fabrics in my shop are from China's Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces. Once a year, traders from China come to meet Vietnamese partners for doing yearend balance sheet. We have kept close relations with them for years. They even took their families here to meet their Vietnamese partners and also to visit Vietnam," Le said.

According to the latest figures from Vietnam's General Statistics Office, in 2014, Vietnam imported some $43.7 billion worth of products from China, an increase of 18.2 percent compared to the previous year.

Among the imports, fabrics posted an increase of 20.7 percent, machinery, tools and equipment up 19.7 percent, while imports of phones and electronic accessories up 9.5 percent year-on-year.

In 2014, Vietnam was estimated to incur a trade deficit of $28.9 billion with China, up 21.8 percent compared to 2013, said the statistics agency.

"A good relationship between the two countries will make trade and business activities between the two peoples more convenient and stable. As Vietnam and China are neighbors, I hope that the two countries will keep their bilateral relations intact because this will benefit the two peoples," said Le, who has been selling textile at Dong Xuan Market for nearly 18 years.