Vietnam’s government has warned that the RCEP trade deal may take until 2018 to sign, which comes as a contrast to Chinese government aims to get it done “at an early date”. While trade with China is more significant for Vietnam than vice versa the smaller country may hold some negotiating cards. Firstly, China’s trade with Vietnam increased 15% on a year earlier in the past three months, compared to China’s global growth of just 4%. Panjiva analysis shows their trade is currently one of supply chain integration rather than customer-buyer relations. Vietnamese exports to China are led...