Vietnamese, Chinese trade ministers hold talks
Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien held talks with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao on June 28, as part of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to China and attendance at the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum (WEF) from June 25-28.
Minister Dien appreciated the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's close coordination with Vietnam to promptly tackle arising issues in economic and trade ties.
He suggested Minister Wang push for the expansion of Vietnam-China bilateral trade and trade between the two countries' localities so as to bring more Vietnamese goods into the Chinese market.
Dien also asked the Chinese side to improve the efficiency of customs clearance at border gates, help accelerate the establishment of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Office in Haikou this year and facilitate the transit of Vietnamese exports through the Chinese railway to third countries.
Highlighting the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation to ensure Vietnam-China supply chain between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Minister Dien said both sides should build an action plan to realise the MoU. This includes building a logistics network connecting the supply chains of both countries, from raw material regions and industrial parks to production facilities, ports, and distribution centres. The plan should also involves establishing distribution and logistics hubs in production and consumption areas of both countries.
Agreeing with Dien’s proposals, Wang pledged to assign relevant units to work with the MoIT to roll out cooperation in the mentioned aspects.
He touched upon issues of China's interest such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the upgrade of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), and stronger collaboration in e-commerce. He also suggested Vietnam back Chinese investment in the country.
In reply, Dien vowed to partner up with China on multilateral issues and assist reputable Chinese enterprises in investing in hi-tech and eco-friendly sectors.
Both sides also agreed to discuss cooperation within multilateral framework to boost economic and trade development of both countries.
On the occasion, the Vietnamese minister invited Minister Wang to visit Vietnam to discuss further deepening bilateral comprehensive collaboration between respective agencies. Wang promised to arrange the visit in suitable time.