HANOI, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam gained 3.3 billion U.S. dollars from exporting fruits and vegetables in the first 10 months of this year, up 15.5 percent year-on-year, with China being the largest importer, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Thursday.

The export to China went up 10.4 percent in value against the same period last year, accounting for 74 percent of Vietnam's total fruit and vegetables export turnovers.

Several foreign markets have witnessed significant growth in import value, including Thailand, up 35 percent year-on-year; Australia, up 31.6 percent year-on-year; the United States, up 30.8 percent year-on-year; and South Korea, up 24.2 percent year-on-year.

Vietnam is likely to fulfill its target this year of selling overseas 4 billion U.S. dollars worth of fruits and vegetables, the agriculture ministry forecasted, noting that many large-scale processing plants would soon go into operation.

The country made fruit and vegetables export turnovers of more than 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up over 43.1 percent against 2016. Its biggest import market was China, which accounted for 75.6 percent of the turnovers, followed by Japan with 3.6 percent, the United States with 2.9 percent, South Korea with 2.6 percent, and the Netherlands with 1.8 percent, said the ministry.