Nen welcomed Shen’s visit, describing it as the first step for the two localities to strengthen their partnership in many fields.
He recalled difficulties that HCM City faced during the hard time when the fourth wave of COVID-19 hit the country, and the support from international friends, including China. Currently, the city is on its post-pandemic economic recovery period.
Highlighting the similarities between HCM City and Hainan, Nen said both act as an economic hub in each country.
Hainan is successfully implementing the free trade model, while HCM City is the centre of Vietnam’s southern economic region, he noted, expressing hope to receive the sharing of experience from the Chinese province and promote bilateral partnership in various fields such as high technology, health care, new and renewable energy.
For his part, Shen congratulated HCM City on overcoming the pandemic and stabilising locals’ life, and showed his impression at the growth of the city in recent years.
He said that since June 2020, the Chinese Government decided to turned Hainan into a free trade zone. The policy has proved its efficiency, as the province has topped Chinese localities in terms of GDP growth. Hainan is also the leading locality in foreign investment attraction, he added.
Shen said that in recent years, Hainan has seen breakthrough development in green energy economy, especially electricity vehicle manufacturing.
Commenting that HCM City is the most dynamic and developed locality of Vietnam, Shen proposed the two sides learn from each other and promote their collaboration in many areas for common development.
The two localities should resume their direct air route and bolster cooperation in tourism, agriculture, biotechnology, services and green economy, he suggested./.