Vietnam and China have long been strong cross-border trading partners for everything from raw materials to consumer goods.

Now, however, Vietnam is experiencing an overall slowdown in exports to the rest of the world as economic problems spread.

In response, officials are aggressively pursuing companies whose products would be exported around the world. China's bearing manufacturers are among the top targets of Vietnam's new strategy.

Specifically, Vietnamese export authorities believe a proposed trade agreement with the United States will open huge new markets for direct exports. They point out that if a Chinese bearing manufacturer builds a plant across the border in Vietnam, the trade agreement means another direct channel for their goods into U.S. markets.

Vietnam is one of six countries with whom the United States does not now have normal trade relations, meaning that the lower tariff rates the U.S. applies to imports from nearly every other country are not applied to imports from there.

The U.S. and Vietnam recently signed a bilateral trade agreement, the first step in normalizing trade relations. It must now be approved by Congress, in addition to the country meeting certain emigration rights requirements.