Vietnam - China economic and trade cooperation:

Vietnam remains China's largest trading partner in ASEAN, and China is Vietnam's largest trading partner. To date, China is the third largest foreign investor in Vietnam, leading in the number of new investment projects...

Checking the quality of durian exported to China at Chanh Thu Fruit Import Export Company Limited (Ben Tre province).

A journey of trustful cooperation and many achievements

In an article published in Nhan Dan Newspaper (Vietnam) and Nhan Dan Daily (China) on the occasion of the visit of General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping to Vietnam, General Secretary To Lam and General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping shared the view that China and Vietnam are two friendly neighboring countries, sharing broad strategic interests, emphasizing that over the past 75 years, peace, friendship and development cooperation have always been the main stream in bilateral relations.

Regarding the economic and trade fields, in the article, General Secretary To Lam pointed out: Economic and trade relations have continuously developed strongly, bringing many practical benefits to the people of the two countries... Meanwhile, General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping said: More and more high-quality agricultural products of Vietnam such as durian and coconut have reached many Chinese families. Railway connection and construction of smart border gates are being promoted smoothly...

According to economists and scholars, such traditional neighborly relations and high political trust have created an important foundation for Vietnam-China economic and trade cooperation to continuously develop over the years, becoming a bright spot in the relationship between the two countries. Regular high-level visits between leaders of the two countries have paved the way for a series of trade, investment and economic cooperation agreements. The coordination between the two governments in regional and bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and the regular maintenance of high-level economic dialogues, have helped to promptly remove obstacles, creating a stable legal environment for businesses of both sides to cooperate long-term.

Efforts from both sides have borne fruit, with trade cooperation between Vietnam and China growing impressively, especially over the past decade. In 2023, bilateral trade turnover reached about 170 billion USD. In 2024, Vietnam maintained its position as the largest trading partner in ASEAN and China's fourth largest trading partner by country criteria. In 2024, bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and China reached 205.2 billion USD (up 19.3%). In the first 3 months of 2025, bilateral trade turnover reached 51.25 billion USD (up 17.46% over the same period).

In terms of investment, China is one of the major investors in Vietnam, especially in industrial production, energy, real estate, infrastructure construction, etc. In 2024, China ranked first in the number of newly licensed projects with 955 projects, ranked 3rd out of 110 investment partners in Vietnam in terms of capital with 4.73 billion USD. Accumulated to December 31, 2024, China ranked 6th out of 148 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 5,111 valid projects, with a total registered capital of 30.83 billion USD. In March 2025, China ranked 2nd in terms of total registered capital, reaching 1.23 billion USD, accounting for 28.5%.

Regarding tourism, Vietnam welcomed 3.74 million Chinese visitors in 2024 (an increase of 114% compared to 2023), accounting for 21.26% of total international visitors to our country. In the first 3 months of 2025, Vietnam continued to welcome 1.58 million Chinese visitors, an increase of 178% over the same period, and the highest level.

The above figures are clear evidence that Vietnam and China have recently "promoted stable and substantive economic cooperation" - as Professor Kim San Vinh at Renmin University of China shared.

Inheriting the past, building the future

Also in the article in Nhan Dan Daily, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that the stable, sustainable and long-term development of the Vietnam-China friendly and cooperative relationship is a fundamental and long-term interest, an earnest aspiration for generations of the two peoples for peace and friendship, of great significance to the revolutionary cause in each country, in line with the great trend of the times of peace, stability, cooperation and prosperous development.

Sharing the same view, General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping affirmed that the construction of the China-Vietnam Community of Shared Future has strategic significance, is in line with the common interests of the two countries, is beneficial to peace, stability and prosperous development of the region and the world, and is the choice of history and the choice of the people.

The common vision of senior leaders combined with deep political trust and an increasingly solid foundation of cooperation are the conditions to ensure that economic and trade relations between Vietnam and China will continue to develop strongly in the future, bringing many benefits to both countries. Professor Mi Liang (Beijing Foreign Studies University) also said that facing common challenges, reforming and opening up the economy together... are also important driving forces for increasingly deep and stable cooperation.

Trade of goods between Vietnam and China at Kim Thanh International Road Border Gate No. II (Lao Cai province).

This process will have many advantages. Clarifying this assessment, Executive Chairman of the China-ASEAN Business Council Xu Ningning assessed that the complementarity in the economic structure of the two countries is a great advantage. Vietnam is currently a country with a young workforce, competitive production costs and is aiming to develop the processing and manufacturing industry. Meanwhile, China has advantages in technology, investment capital, large market size and industrial development experience. This creates great room for enhancing cooperation in the regional supply chain, especially in the context of the global value chain shifting and restructuring after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vietnam and China have a land border of more than 1,400km, along with many international, national and local border gates such as Huu Nghi - Huu Nghi Quan, Mong Cai - Dong Hung, Lao Cai - Ha Khau... Cross-border roads and railways have been upgraded and expanded. In addition, the two countries are located in major economic corridors such as: Nanning - Lang Son - Hanoi - Hai Phong economic corridor; Kunming - Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong economic corridor... All these advances have created favorable conditions, becoming an important driving force to promote the circulation of goods, trade and cross-border investment cooperation.

Not stopping there, today, both Vietnam and China are members of many important economic organizations and trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) framework... This context creates favorable conditions for the two countries to continue promoting free trade, reducing trade barriers, and at the same time cooperating to build regional supply chains. In the coming time, if cooperation in infrastructure development (intermodal railways, seaports, logistics, etc.) can be enhanced, the two sides can also reduce transportation costs, shorten trade time, and further enhance connectivity in the region as well as in the world.

High-level cooperation is the new spearhead

Experts believe that, in addition to traditional areas of cooperation, Vietnam and China can completely expand opportunities to newer areas. In fact, after more than 45 years of reform and opening up, China has made great strides in the field of science and technology. From being a latecomer, China has now become a science and technology powerhouse, ranking third in the world in investment in research and development (R&D) and leading the world in the number of patents. Recently, China has continuously announced many outstanding technological achievements in key areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G networks, automatic robots, semiconductor chips, space technology, etc.

For Vietnam, the Party and State always promote and attach special importance to the decisive role of science and technology in the sustainable development of the country. In recent years, many important political documents have been issued to demonstrate this spirit, especially Resolution No. 57-NQ/TU dated December 22, 2024 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, which emphasizes the guiding viewpoint "Developing science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation is a top priority breakthrough, the main driving force for rapidly developing modern productive forces, perfecting production relations, innovating national governance methods, developing the socio-economy, preventing the risk of falling behind, bringing the country to breakthrough development and prosperity in the new era".

In that context, digital transformation and digital economic development have obviously become areas with enormous potential for cooperation, which are also areas that are consistent with the general development trend of the region and the world. According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, Vietnam is ready to further deepen scientific and technological cooperation with China, in which it hopes that China will strengthen cooperation in training high-quality human resources, technology transfer and capital support in this field.

Along with that, the two countries can promote the creation of other bright spots in high-level cooperation, especially in areas where Vietnam has demand and China has strengths such as standard gauge railways, agricultural trade, science and technology, education and training, digital economy, green economy... to meet the aspirations and interests of the people of the two countries. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son believes that with about 40 cooperation documents in a series of fields between ministries, agencies and localities of the two countries signed during the visit of General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping on this occasion, it will create an important foundation for more effective cooperation in the coming time.

The economic relationship between Vietnam and China is a strategic link, deeply affecting the stability and prosperous future of both countries. Building a harmonious, equal and mutually beneficial economic relationship will certainly contribute positively to the development of both countries. This is also one of the core approaches that makes an important contribution to the joint efforts for Vietnam and China to strongly promote the tradition of friendship, opening a new era of development of bilateral relations.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/hop-tac-kinh-te-thuong-mai-viet-nam-trung-quoc-khong-ngung-phat-trien-manh-me-698946.html