Vietnam prioritises developing ties with China, says Party leader

Trong once again congratulated Xi on his re-election as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party at its recently concluded 20th congress, noting the congress is of great significance to China’s long-term development to build a modern socialist country by 2035.

He affirmed that the traditional friendship between Vietnam and China, built and cultivated by President Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam and Chairman Mao Zedong and other revolutionary predecessors of the two countries, is a valuable common asset of the two Parties, countries and peoples.

For his part, Xi congratulated the development achievements that Vietnam has recorded over the years and expressed his belief that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Vietnam will successfully implement the goals and tasks set out by the 13th Party Congress and soon turn it into a modern industrialized country.

He also affirmed that China places high importance on and wishes to elevate the comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership with Vietnam to new heights under the motto of ‘friendly neighbourliness, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability, looking forward to the future’ and in the spirit of ‘good neighbours, good friends, good comrades, and good partners’.

Both host and guest shared the view that the Vietnam – China relations have developed vigorously in recent time through high-level contact and exchanges despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They singled out trade-investment cooperation as a bright spot in bilateral relations, saying Vietnam is continuously China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and its sixth trading partner in the world. The Vietnam-China trade accounts for a quarter of the total trade turnover between China and ASEAN.

They agreed that in the current context of global crises and instability, the stable development and achievements recorded by Vietnam and China are of great significance to the two countries and two peoples.

To develop the Vietnam - China relations in a healthy, stable and sustainable manner in the coming time, the two leaders held that Vietnam and China continue to maintain regular high-level exchanges and contact in order to enhance mutual understanding, timely exchange and solve problems that may arise in bilateral relations.

They emphasized the importance of strengthening and promoting the strategic guiding role of their Parties, increasing theoretical exchanges and effectively implementing the cooperation plan between the two Parties, especially the Party and cadre training cooperation plan for 2021-2025. They said it is necessary to enhance the exchange and sharing of experiences in Party building, political system building, personnel management, anti-corruption, as well as in protecting the ideological foundation of the Party in each country.

The two Party leaders agreed to promote the efficiency of existing cooperation mechanisms between the two Parties and countries, especially high-level meetings and the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation between Vietnam and China, in order to identify the direction and focus of cooperation in line with the needs and interests of the two sides, contributing to the effective implementation of important agreements and common perceptions between the senior leaders of the two Parties and countries.

They stressed the need to continue to effectively implement cooperation and exchange mechanisms between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the National People’s Congress of China, and between the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. They vowed to deepen bilateral cooperation in the fields of diplomacy, defense and security, as well as between their border guard and law enforcement forces, while coordinating closely and effectively at multilateral forums.

The two leaders also discussed in depth various fields of substantive cooperation, consenting that it is necessary to promote and improve the efficiency of cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and investment, creating a solid foundation for the development of bilateral relations.

Vietnam considers China a leading trade partner and wishes to increase the export of key products to the market, said Party leader Trong.

He suggested that China continue to accelerate the implementation of market opening procedures for Vietnam’s farm products, maintain a smooth supply chain and facilitate customs clearance between the two countries, increase the quota for Vietnamese goods transiting China to a third country by rail, and ramp up cooperation in air, road and rail transport.

Vietnam welcomes and is willing to create favourable conditions for China’s large, high-tech enterprises to expand investment in the country, Trong assured his host.

Xi acknowledged his guest’s proposals and affirmed that China will make efforts to maintain the development of the China - Vietnam trade relations in a more balanced direction.

The two sides pledged to resolve outstanding issues in bilateral relations, strengthen cooperation in production capacity, and actively promote the connection between the ‘Two Corridors, One Belt’ framework and the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative to meet the needs, interests and sustainable development strategies of each side. They agreed to expand cooperation in the fields of agriculture, the environment, science and technology, and health.

The Chinese side is committed to providing Vietnam with no less than 1,000 government scholarships, and training no less than 1,000 Chinese teachers for Vietnam.

The two leaders suggested that each side continue to facilitate travel for people, soon restore commercial flights, cooperate in tourism and trade, and facilitate decentralised cooperation, especially between their border localities.

On border and territory issues, the two sides agreed to strengthen the effective management of the border line according to the signed documents and agreements, and soon launch a pilot project on tourism cooperation in the area of Ban Gioc Waterfall (Vietnam) and Detian Waterfall (China).

With regard to the sea issue, the two leaders agreed this is a pending problem in bilateral relations, and maintaining peace and stability at sea is very important for the development of both Parties and countries.

Trong suggested that the two sides adhere to the high-level common sense, respect each other’s legitimate interests, and settle disputes and disagreements by peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982). He underscored the importance of bringing into full play negotiating mechanisms at sea, promoting delimitation and discussion on development cooperation, fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of the parties in the East Sea (DOC) and striving to build a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS 1982.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong cordially invited General Secretary and President Xi Jinping to visit Vietnam in the near future, and the invitation was accepted with pleasure.