At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, President Vo Van Thuong will lead a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, China, from October 17 to 20, 2023.
Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hung Ba. Photo: Thuy Ha/VNA
On this occasion, Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hung Ba met with the press to inform and discuss issues related to the relationship between the two countries. According to Ambassador Hung Ba, China and Vietnam are entering a new stage of development. Since China and Vietnam established a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership (in 2008), over the past 15 years, the relationship between the two Parties and the two countries has maintained a trend of continuous development in a healthy and stable direction. The political trust between the senior leaders of the two Parties and the two countries of China and Vietnam has continuously deepened and been consolidated. In particular, in recent years, immediately after the closing ceremony of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the leaders of the Chinese Party and State congratulated the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam on its successful organization. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam congratulated the successful conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and congratulated China on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (1921 - 2021). With a series of important political agendas, the two sides have given each other steadfast and enthusiastic support, thereby demonstrating a very high level of development of relations between the two Parties and the two countries. During this process, the senior leaders of the two Parties and the two countries of Vietnam and China have maintained close contact. The most memorable of these was the official visit to China in late October and early November 2022 by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The visit took place right after the recently concluded 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was the first foreign leader to be invited and officially received by the Chinese leaders right after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. This was a historic and successful visit. During the visit, Ambassador Hung Ba emphasized that the composition of the two delegations was at a very high level. General Secretary Xi Jinping introduced to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong the leadership of the Politburo Standing Committee, that is, the new leadership group right after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. This is a very important and comprehensive continuation between the high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and two countries. China warmly and thoughtfully welcomed General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong with the highest ceremony. General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping awarded the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. At the talks, the two leaders exchanged in-depth and frank opinions on a wide range of topics, including those related to the relationship between the two Parties and two countries, the international and regional situations of mutual concern; and reached a series of new and important common perceptions. This has a very important impact on the development of relations between the two Parties and the two countries in the coming time. The two sides issued a Joint Statement with very rich and important content. That is also an important achievement of the visit. Since the beginning of 2023, senior leaders of the two Parties and the two countries have continued to maintain regular exchanges and contacts. Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh has visited China twice and attended important multilateral conferences; Comrade Truong Thi Mai, Politburo member, Permanent Secretary of the Secretariat, Head of the Central Organization Commission and many Politburo members of the Communist Party of Vietnam have visited China. When the situation is restored after the COVID-19 pandemic, the mechanism for meeting the heads of the Politburo of the two Parties will also be restored and it is expected that in 2024, the two sides will continue to organize theoretical seminars and resume mechanisms for exchanging experiences in Party building and national governance. The second highlight in the bilateral relationship over the past 15 years, according to Ambassador Hung Ba, is that cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and people-to-people exchange between the two countries has reached its highest level in history. "I think the highlight of the bilateral relationship is not only creating political trust between the two sides, but also investment and economic and trade cooperation. This is also very important for the development of each country," the Ambassador said. According to the Ambassador, for many years, China has maintained its position as Vietnam's largest trading partner and Vietnam is also China's largest trading partner in ASEAN. China's investment in Vietnam has maintained a rapid and sustainable growth trend. Last year, China's investment in Vietnam ranked third, but in the past 9 months of this year, China's investment in Vietnam has ranked second. People-to-people exchange between the two countries has also maintained a rapid recovery trend. Up to now, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam continues to increase. Ambassador Hung Ba believes that in this field, the two sides still have great potential. "In 2019, the number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam reached about 5.8 million. With the restoration of flights between the two countries, the development potential in this field is still very large," the Ambassador emphasized. The third highlight in the bilateral cooperation relationship, according to Ambassador Hung Ba, is the coordination, exchange and cooperation between Vietnam and China in regional and international common work that has been constantly enhanced. "China highly values Vietnam's important role in regional and international common work and supports Vietnam to continue to play an important and constructive role in solving regional and international issues," Ambassador Hung Ba said. According to the Ambassador, China and Vietnam are two socialist countries, at the same time developing countries, emerging economies, so the two countries share important and broad common interests in international affairs. Referring to the opportunities and challenges, Ambassador Hung Ba said that, looking from the international context, the China-Vietnam relationship in the coming time will have greater opportunities than challenges. Although there are still conflicts in some regions of the world, the world is basically in a trend of peace, cooperation and development, in which the Asia-Pacific region has become a driving force contributing to world economic growth. Ambassador Hung Ba said that this is an important basis for China and Vietnam, as developing countries, emerging economies, to have increasingly enhanced voices, contributions and influence in the international arena. In addition to external international and regional factors, the stability in bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and China is also a particularly important factor for the development trend of the two countries' relations in the coming time. Ambassador Hung Ba once again affirmed that the political trust between the high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and two countries is increasingly being consolidated and the affection between the two peoples is also constantly being connected and tightened. Ambassador Hung Ba said that with the high-ranking leaders of the two countries having reached a common understanding, the good cooperative relationship between the two countries will continue to maintain its main trend.
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