Beijing (VNA) – The upcoming visit toChina by President Tran Dai Quang provides an important opportunity for Vietnameseand Chinese top leaders to continue their strategic discussion on Party andState relations as well as issues of common concern.
Vietnamese Ambassador to China Dang Minh Khoimade the remark in an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency ahead of thePresident’s State-level visit to China and attend the high-level forum on theBelt and Road Initiative from May 11-15.
According to the Ambassador, President Quang isscheduled to hold talks with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chinaand President of China Xi Jinping and meet with many key leaders of Chinaduring the trip.
On the occasion, Vietnam and China will hold aworkshop on bilateral economic-trade cooperation in 2017 with the participationof nearly 500 businesspeople.
The visit takes place when the two countries’ relationshave been incessantly reinforced and enhanced across the board.
Ambassador Khoi noted that along with the soundpolitical relations, Vietnam and China have recorded encouraging outcomes incooperation in economics, trade, investment and tourism, thus bringingpractical benefits for the two peoples.
Two-way trade increased to 72 billion USD in2016 from 9.9 billion USD in 2006 (according to Vietnamese statistics) and 98billion USD (according to Chinese statistics).
China has been the biggest trade partner ofVietnam over the past 13 consecutive years, while Vietnam has become thelargest ASEAN trade partner of China.
China’s investment in Vietnam reached 1.8billion USD in 2016 and 684 million USD in the first quarter of 2017, rankingsecond among countries investing in Vietnam, and making up 23.4 percent of thetotal foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in the country.
More than 10,000 Vietnamese students arestudying in China, whilst China has over 3,000 students pursuing education inVietnam.
China is also among the largest tourism marketsof Vietnam with 2.8 million tourists in 2016. Vice versa, Vietnam is leadingASEAN in the number of holidaymakers to China, which almost topped 2 million in2016.
The two sides have also closely coordinated inthe management of land border and strictly implemented legal documents on landborder and delimitation of the Gulf of Tonkin. They have strengthenedcooperation in building, managing and opening border gates, and applied measuresto facilitate customs clearance, maintain security and stability in the sharedborder areas.
According to the Ambassador, Vietnamese andChinese leaders have maintained regular and candid discussions on maritimeissues.
He said the two sides agreed to pursue friendlynegotiations on the basis of bilateral common perception and international law,to seek fundamental, long-term solutions acceptable to both sides to addressmarine matters, while implementing comprehensively and fully the Declaration onthe Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), working with ASEAN to early builda Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), and effectively controlling disputesat sea to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea.
As a neighbouring country with traditionalfriendship and as an important trade economic partner of China, Vietnam pledgedto support China’s hosting of the high-level forum on the Belt and RoadInitiative, which will see the presence of government leaders from 28countries.
The Vietnamese and Chinese Party and Stateleaders also agreed to actively promote the bilateral strategic connectivity,including the “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework and the “One Belt, One Road”initiative, the Ambassador said, noting that it will contribute to creatingpositive changes and enhancing the effectiveness of economic-trade partnershipbetween the two countries.-VNA