Vietnam's fruit (file photo)

HANOI, May 3 (Xinhua) -- China remained the largest consumer of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable in the first four months of 2017, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on Wednesday.

China, the United States, Japan and South Korea, were the top four importers of Vietnamese goods, accounting for 82.9 percent of the export value during four-month period.

From January to April, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports earned an estimated 1 billion U.S. dollars, up 32.6 percent from the same period last year.

During the period, Russia recorded the sharpest yearly increase of 88.7 percent in imports of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, followed by Japan (up 50.9 percent), Thailand (34 percent), China (33.3 percent), Malaysia (32.8 percent), South Korea (18.7 percent) and the U.S. (13.3 percent).

In the domestic market, from the beginning of April, prices of several Mekong Delta fruits, such as fresh coconuts and rambutans, increased due to supply shortages.

Vietnam targets to earn some 3 billion U.S. dollars from exports of fruits and vegetables in 2017, up 25 percent year-on-year.