General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong (R) and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping at the meeting with intellectuals and young people of the two countries in Hanoi on December 13. (Photo: VNA)The friendship, fostered by generations of the twocountries’ leaders, has been a valuable shared asset, helping maintain thesustainability of the relationship, and bring tangible benefits to the twopeoples.
Newmilestone in bilateral ties
The state visit to Vietnam by General Secretary ofthe Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping and his spouse on December 12 and 13 wasan important event to both countries, which drew public attention.
The visit was a success as through it, the two sideshave enhanced political trust and mutual understanding,significantly contributing to promoting the solidarity and traditionalfriendship, and strengthening and deepening the bilateral comprehensivestrategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.
This is the third state visit to Vietnam by Xi Jinping asParty General Secretary and President of China, and the first timethe Chinese top leader has made a visit to a single country since the 20th NationalCongress of CPC.
In recent years, especially after the historicofficial visit to China by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam(CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in 2022, the relationship hasmaintained a development trend with positive results.
This year marks the 15th anniversary (2008-2023) of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, a milestone in the bilateral ties.High-ranking leaders of the two sides have maintained exchangeand contact in various forms.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been many visits by high-ranking leaders. Notably, President Vo Van Thuong attended the ThirdBelt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing from October 17-20;and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh paid an official visit to China and attendedthe 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum (WEF)in Tianjin in June, and participated in the opening of the 20th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) andthe China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) in Nanning city, Guangxiprovince in September.
In addition, exchanges and cooperation between thetwo Parties have been conducted regularly. Agencies and localities of thetwo countries have also restored delegation exchanges after China adjusted itsCOVID-19 prevention and control policy.
During Party General Secretary and President XiJinping’s freshly-concluded visit, the two Party General Secretaries shared the view that 15 years since the two countries established thecomprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in 2008 and with the motto of"friendly neighbourliness, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability,looking toward the future” and the spirit of "good neighbours, goodfriends, good comrades, good partners", cooperation in various fields hasmade positive and comprehensive progress, and the relations between the twoParties and two countries have been expanded and deepened continuously.
The bilateral economic, trade and investment tieshave been growing more intensively. China has remained Vietnam’s biggest tradepartner for 20 consecutive years. Vietnam is now China’s largest trade partnerin the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the fourth largest overall. The two-way trade jumpedto nearly 180 billion USD last year from only 20 billion USD in 2008.
Chinese investment in Vietnam has increased more than 10times, from 2 billion USD in 2008 to 25 billion USD at present. In 2023,China has risen to the fourth place among the countries and territories investingin Vietnam.
People-to-people exchanges and cooperation betweenlocalities have become vibrantly, with many practical results. So far, nearly 60Vietnamese provinces and cities have established friendly cooperation withChinese localities.
The two sides have recorded many achievements inbuilding the shared land border of peace, friendship and cooperation,contributing to socio-economic development of their border localities.
They have also strived to maintain negotiations andstrengthen cooperation to, together with relevant parties, to manage differences in accordance with the provisions ofinternational law, contributing to ensuring peace and stability in the East Sea and the region.
During the visit, the two sides reached manyimportant common perceptions. Their joint statement sets out specific,comprehensive orientations. The joint statement, together with the signed cooperationdocuments in various fields, has created a framework and laid importantfoundations for cooperation between the two Parties, two countries and two peoples togrow further in the new period.
The visit is a new milestone, contributing topromoting the traditional friendship, elevating the Vietnam-China relations inthe new period, and fostering peace, stability and development in the regionand the world.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping look at the newly signed cooperation documents between the two countries on December 12. (Photo: VNA)On this occasion, high-ranking leaders of the twocountries held in-depth discussions on important matters such as deepeningcollaboration in politics, security, national defence-security, economy, tradeand people-to-people exchange, and stepping up coordination and collaborationat multilateral forums.
A total of 36 cooperation documents were signedbetween ministries, agencies and localities of the two sides, coveringcollaboration via the Party channel, as well as in national defence-security,justice, economy, trade, investment, digital economy, green growth,agricultural export, and irrigation, and maritime cooperation, among otherfields.
According to Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo,the visit presents a very important opportunity for leaders of both countriesto maintain and enhance strategic exchanges in the new situation.
“It aims to determine the new position of thebilateral relations in the new era, set a new direction for furtherdevelopment, and open up new prospects for cooperation in various fields. Itwill create new momentum for the sustainable development of the China-Vietnamrelationship," he said.
The visit’s results show that Vietnam considersdeveloping relations with China a top priority and a strategic choice, and supportsthe strong development of a socialist China, making more important contributionsto peace and progress of humankind.
It also affirms the Vietnamese Party and State’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperationand development, diversification and multilateralisation of external relations./.
VNA
