Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and Vietnamese president, in Hanoi, Vietnam, Oct. 12, 2024. (Photo: Xinhua)

 

China stands ready to promote high-quality and high-level cooperation in various fields with Vietnam and is willing to continue to make bigger the pie of economic and trade cooperation, said Chinese Premier Li Qiang who is on a three-day official visit to Vietnam.

When meeting with To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and Vietnamese president, on Saturday, Li conveyed the cordial greetings of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, to To Lam, saying that in August this year, the top leaders of the two parties and countries held a meeting in Beijing and made a strategic plan for promoting the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, which charted the course for the development of bilateral relations, according to the Xinhua News Agency on Sunday.

With the political guidance of top leaders from both nations, frequent high-level interactions have deepened political trust, promoting long-term, stable, and healthy development of bilateral relations and pushing them to a higher level. This will also inject greater momentum into economic, social, and civil exchanges and cooperation between the two nations, observers hailed on Sunday.

Frequent, high-level, and high-quality interactions underscore the significance both sides place on their amicable relations, Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute of Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Concrete actions 

Li pointed out that China stands ready to solidify the six major goals of greater political mutual trust, more substantive security cooperation, deeper practical cooperation, more solid popular foundation, closer multilateral coordination and collaboration, and more proper management of differences, Xinhua reported.

Li expressed hope that the two sides will simultaneously promote the "hard connectivity" of railway, expressway and port infrastructure and the "soft connectivity" of smart customs to provide solid support for improving the facilitation of trade and investment and safeguarding the stability and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains.

Li also said China is willing to actively study the pilot construction of cross-border economic cooperation zones, expand cooperation in emerging fields such as information technology, new energy, digital economy, and important minerals, and deepen cultural exchanges.

China stands ready to carry out cooperation under the three major global initiatives, jointly promote the building of an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and maintain and promote prosperity and tranquility in Asia, Li said.

Cooperation in infrastructure development is a key and exemplary sector of China-Vietnam collaboration. In addition to directly driving the development of border regions and ports on both sides, it creates positive spillover effects in markets and investment, boosting the creation of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, Ding Duo, a deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Both countries continue to strengthen bilateral relations through concrete actions, particularly in areas such as trade cooperation and regional connectivity. The construction of a cross-border railway, for instance, will enhance cooperation between China and Southeast Asia, Gu said.

China is the biggest trading partner of the Vietnam, with the bilateral trade exceeding $200 billion for three years in a row, and reaching $145.07 billion from January to July in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 20.9 percent, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

For his part, To Lam asked Li to convey his sincere greetings to Xi, and warmly congratulated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The Vietnamese side will firmly follow the path jointly set by the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, adhere to the six major goals, deepen the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and promote the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.

He noted that Vietnam firmly abides by the one-China principle and firmly opposes all forms of "Taiwan independence" separatist activities. 

Vietnam is the second stop of Li's ongoing Asia tour. Prior to this, he visited Laos, where he participated in a series of leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation and conducted an official visit to the country, according to Xinhua. 

According to the Vietnamese government website, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted an official welcome ceremony for Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on Sunday.

In his meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister, Li urged both sides to stick to friendly consultation, properly handle differences and expand maritime cooperation. In response, Pham Minh Chinh said the two sides should implement the high-level consensus of the two parties and two countries, properly manage differences through friendly consultation, and jointly safeguard maritime peace and stability. 

Vietnam and China signed 10 agreements ranging from agriculture cooperation to cross-border QR code payments on Sunday, according to Vietnamese government website. The two countries also signed a document on updating progress on cross-border railway links related to site survey. The signing ceremony followed Li's meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.