Lang Son
Vietnam's primary China trade gateway with $38.8B in 2025 turnover (up 38%), processing 1,500+ trucks daily through 5 border gates on the Nanning-Hanoi-Hai Phong economic corridor.
Lang Son exists because geography funneled trade between China and Vietnam through a single mountain pass—and centuries of merchants, armies, and customs officials have formalized that chokepoint into Vietnam's primary northern trade gateway. In 2025, trucks carrying goods worth $38.8 billion (up 38% year-over-year) passed through the province's five border gates: Chi Ma, Huu Nghi, Tan Thanh, Coc Nam, and Dong Dang.
The formation story is logistics infrastructure layered across dynasties. The Dong Dang railway—Vietnam's first international rail connection—opened in 1902. The friendship gate (Huu Nghi) has operated since imperial times. Today the 394 km² Dong Dang-Lang Son Border-Gate Economic Zone anchors two industrial parks covering 761 hectares, with ten more planned by 2030. The province sits at the apex of the Nanning-Lang Son-Hanoi-Hai Phong economic corridor connecting China to Vietnamese ports.
The December 2025 trade data illustrates operational scale: 1,522 vehicles daily, extended clearance hours until 8 PM, pilot programs allowing Chinese trucks to deliver directly to Vietnamese yards. The Tan Thanh Border Gate's specialized transport route (1088/2-1089 section) reduced loading times and costs. Vietnam's $3.3 billion durian export to China in 2024 (97% of total durian exports) passed largely through Lang Son gates.
FDI follows trade: 40+ projects totaling $240 million, with another $1.9 billion in investment called for through 2025. The province markets itself as a "China+1" destination—offering manufacturers proximity to Chinese supply chains with Vietnamese labor costs and trade agreements.
By 2026, Lang Son's trajectory is throughput optimization. Each minute saved at customs clearance multiplies across thousands of daily crossings. The province that controls Vietnam's primary land gateway to the world's largest trading nation has converted geographic accident into economic infrastructure. Whether trade grows faster than the capacity to process it determines whether Lang Son remains gateway or bottleneck.