General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong, has successfully concluded his official visit to China at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The visit affirms the traditional friendship and the great importance attached to the relationship between the two Parties, States and countries’ people while elevating the level of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is the first high-ranking foreign leader to visit China after the 20th Congress of the CPC and this is also the first foreign trip by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong after the 13th Congress of the CPV.

The invitation to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the warm reception for the Vietnamese delegation indicate the great importance that the CPC Central Committee and General Secretary and President Xi Jinping attach to Vietnam’s international position and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Consolidating relationship of good neighbours and comrades

Vietnam and China are close neighbours and are both socialist countries under the leadership of the Communist Party. The Vietnam-China traditional friendship has been established and nurtured by President Ho Chi Minh and Chairman Mao Zedong, along with revolutionaries of the previous generations, becoming a common valuable asset of the two Parties, States and countries’ people.

President Ho Chi Minh and Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1960. (Photo: VNA)

President Ho Chi Minh and Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1960. (Photo: VNA)

During their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Chinese General Secretary and President Xi Jinping discussed the situation of each Party, the relationship between the two Parties, States and the achievements recorded by each country in recent times.

Congratulating the success of the 20th Congress of the CPC and Xi Jinping on his re-election as General Secretary of the 20th tenure and for being established as the leadership core of the CPC Central Committee and the entire CPC, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong stated that the 20th Congress has long-term significance to the development of China, setting forth on a new journey to build a modernised socialist China by 2035, towards the second centenary goal.

Chinese General Secretary and President Xi Jinping also congratulated the achievements that Vietnam has recorded during the implementation of the Resolution of the CPV’s 13th Congress, especially the setting of the development goals and paths for the periods until 2025, 2030 and 2045, soon taking Vietnam to fundamentally become a modern industrialised nation, successfully realising the objective of wealthy people and a strong, democratic, just and civilised country.

Vietnam-China high-level talks. (Video: Nhan Dan Television)

Vietnam-China high-level talks. (Video: Nhan Dan Television)

The two sides agreed to continue maintaining regular high-level exchanges and contacts between leaders of the two parties and countries, to enhance mutual understanding and promptly exchange and resolve issues arising in bilateral relations, as well as maintain a friendly situation and the healthy and stable development of the bilateral relations.

The two leaders emphasised the importance of strengthening the strategic guiding role of cooperation between the two Parties and theoretical exchanges between the two Parties while effectively implementing the cooperation plan between the two Parties and the plan for cooperation in personnel training between the two Parties in the 2021-2025 period. They also agreed to enhance the exchange of experiences in Party building, political system building, personnel work, anti-corruption, as well as experiences in protecting the ideological foundation of the Party.

The two General Secretaries agreed to improve the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms between the two parties and countries, especially high-level meetings and the meeting of the Steering Committee, for bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and China, to determine the direction and focus of cooperation following the needs and interests of the two sides, contributing to the effective implementation of important agreements and common perceptions between senior leaders of the two Parties and countries.

On the occasion of the visit, Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping presented China's Friendship Order to Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, at a ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The presentation of the Friendship Order is a recognition of the Chinese Party, State and people, towards Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the Vietnamese Party, State and the people, for their contributions to developing bilateral relations. It also demonstrated the close comradeship and brotherhood between China and Vietnam, as well as the common wishes of the two Parties and States for a better future.

PARTY GENERAL SECRETARY PRESENTED WITH FRIENDSHIP ORDER OF CHINA

PARTY GENERAL SECRETARY PRESENTED WITH FRIENDSHIP ORDER OF CHINA

Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping hosted a tea party in honour of Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. This reflected the Chinese leader’s appreciation and hope to increase the attachment and trust towards the Vietnamese leader.

Maintaining a healthy and stable development trend

During the talks and meetings, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Chinese Party and State leaders, agreed to promote the healthy and stable development of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, following the motto of “friendly neighbourliness, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability and future-oriented thinking” and the spirit of "good neighbours, good friends, good comrades, good partners", further lifting the bilateral ties.

The two sides agreed to continue effectively implementing mechanisms of exchange and cooperation between the Government, the National Assembly of Vietnam and the Government, the National People's Congress of China, as well as between the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The two sides consent to carry forward the role of the Steering Committee for Vietnam–China Bilateral Cooperation, and the master plan, and intensify exchanges and cooperation in fields such as diplomacy, national defence and security and law enforcement.

The two sides agreed to strengthen effective coordination at multilateral forums, within international and regional frameworks, like the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), China-ASEAN and Mekong-Lancang; successfully implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement; boost regional economic links and encourage countries to develop together. The two sides persistently implement and uphold multilateralism, jointly protect international justice, and observe the UN Charter and international law.

 “Vietnam always treasures and gives top priority to developing its comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China.”
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and leaders of the Government, the National People's Congress, and the People's Political Consultative Conference of China, highly appreciated the positive progress of relations between the two Parties and countries, amid the difficult context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 The two sides continued to maintain regular high-level meetings and exchanges. Since the beginning of 2020, the two leaders have had four phone calls and exchanged letters and telegrams multiple times, on the occasion of important political events of each side.

Cooperation between departments and branches of the Party, Government, National Assembly (Chinese National People's Congress), Fatherland Front (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), defence and public security has been effectively and substantively strengthened.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Chinese leaders agreed it is necessary to strongly 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. They emphasised that Vietnam and China are very important trading partners of each other and hold the potential to grow further. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that Vietnam attaches special importance to the Chinese market, wishes to increase exports to China of products in which Vietnam has strengths, and wants China to continue creating favourable conditions for and speeding up the opening of its market for Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products, at the same time maintaining a stable supply chain and facilitating customs clearance between the two countries. In addition, the General Secretary also sought China's facilitation on procedures and raising the limit of Vietnamese goods transiting China to a third country by rail, and favourable conditions for cooperation in air, road and rail transport. He affirmed that Vietnam welcomes and is willing to create favourable conditions for China's large, high-tech enterprises to expand investment in the country.

“The visit by the Vietnamese Party leader will contribute to promoting the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China in a healthy, stable and sustainable manner in the new period.”

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang

Leaders of the Party and State of China affirmed that they will make efforts to ensure bilateral trade relations grow in a more balanced direction, and facilitate the imports of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products to the Chinese market in the coming time. Both sides consented to deal with remaining problems in bilateral relations, reinforce cooperation in improving production capacity and actively promote connectivity within the "Two Corridors, One Belt" framework with the Belt and Road Initiative, expand cooperation in the fields of agriculture, environment, sci-tech and health care. In addition, the Chinese side committed to providing Vietnam with no fewer than 1,000 Government scholarships and training at least 1,000 Chinese language teachers for Vietnam.

Economic-trade-investment collaboration is a bright spot in bilateral ties. Vietnam remains China's largest trading partner in ASEAN with two-way trade accounting for a quarter of the total trade turnover between China and ASEAN. Vietnam is also the sixth largest trade partner of China in the world. Obstacles in several joint projects have been removed, including the Cat Linh - Ha Dong urban railway project, which has been officially put into use. Cooperation in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic has achieved practical results. Both sides shared the view that amid crises and instability in many parts of the world, the stable development and achievements made by Vietnam and China are of great significance to the two countries and their people. The two sides also concurred to bolster cooperation in ensuring supply chain stability, make good use of free trade agreements, and strengthen the connection of development strategies as a contribution to economic recovery and development after the pandemic.

During the visit, the two countries senior leaders approved the Vietnam-China Joint Statement, on continuing to promote and deepen the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. The two sides stressed that Vietnam and China persist with the socialist path and the essential goal of bringing prosperous development and happiness to their people, making use of the advantages of close geographical proximity and mutually complementary industries, and enhancing substantive and effective cooperation in all fields, to better meet the interests of their people.

13 SIGNED COOPERATION DOCUMENTS:

- The cooperation agreement between the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations and the CPC Central Committee’s International Liaison Commission.

- The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs and the CPC’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

- The MoU on cooperation between the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries during the 2022-2027 period.

- The MoU on cooperation between the country’s ministries of justice.

- The MoU on cooperation between the two countries’ capitals of Hanoi and Beijing.

- The MoU on strengthening joint works to ensure the Vietnam – China supply chain between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

- The MoU on building priority areas for collaboration between the General Department of Vietnam Customs under the Ministry of Finance and the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

- The MoU on cooperation in the field of ecology and environment between the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China.

- The MoU on food safety in bilateral trade between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

- The MoU on cooperation in trade and economy between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the People's Government of China’s Yunnan province.

- The cooperation plan on culture and tourism between the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China for the 2023-2027 period.
- The MoU on enhancing cooperation in the field of state assets and state-owned enterprises between the Vietnamese Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council of China.

- The protocol requiring phytosanitary for fresh bananas exported from Vietnam to China between the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

The leaders from Vietnam and China emphasised that the friendship between the two peoples is a social foundation and a source of strength for the two country’s relations, to develop further and sustainably. Accordingly, the two sides proposed to continue to facilitate travel for people of the two countries and soon recover commercial flights and cooperation in tourism and trade.

“Vietnam – China relations have achieved positive developments in all fields in recent years, including the effective cooperation between the National People's Congress (NPC) of China and the National Assembly of Vietnam.”

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Li Zhanshu

Regarding border and territory issues, the two sides agreed to strengthen the effective management of the borderline, according to the documents and agreements signed between the two sides, as well as accelerate the pilot operation of the agreement on cooperation at the Ban Gioc Waterfall (Vietnam) - Detian Waterfall (China) area. In addition, the two countries will continue to create favourable conditions for localities, especially those in border areas, to enhance exchanges and cooperation while expanding cooperation between Vietnamese provinces and cities and some potential localities from China.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Chinese leaders said the issues at sea are existing problems in the relations between the two countries and the maintenance of peace and stability at sea is of great importance to the development of both Parties and the two nations. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong asked the two sides to adhere to high-level common perceptions, respect each other's legitimate interests and settle disputes and disagreements by peaceful means under international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), while actively promoting and bringing into full play, negotiation mechanisms at sea and promoting delimitation and discussion on development cooperation. Vietnamese Party leader also suggested the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea/South China Sea (DOC) and the soon development of a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) per international law.

The great success of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's official visit to China has made a particularly important contribution to enhancing understanding and political trust between the two Parties and the two countries. The visit brings the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China into a new stage of development, meeting aspirations and matching the fundamental and long-term interests of both countries and contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development throughout the region and the world.

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Published: November 2022
Production Manager: Chu Hong Thang
Content: Vu Phong – Minh Anh
Design: Dieu Thu – Ngoc Bich - Đang Phi