At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and his wife, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vo Van Thuong and his wife, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and his wife paid a State visit to Vietnam from December 12 to 13. On this occasion, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai gave an interview to a reporter from Nhan Dan Newspaper in China about the relationship between the two countries as well as the significance and importance of the visit.
Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai. (Photo: HUU HUNG)
Reporter: Could you please tell us what the significance of the visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping is to the Vietnam-China Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership? What are the important contents and highlights of the visit?
Ambassador Pham Sao Mai: At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and his wife, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vo Van Thuong and his wife, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and his wife paid a State visit to Vietnam from December 12 to 13.
This is Comrade Xi Jinping's third visit to Vietnam as the head of the Party and State of China, taking place at a very meaningful time, right on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, continuing high-level exchange activities between the two Parties and countries since the historic visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (October 30 - November 1, 2022), demonstrating the importance of the Party and State of China and General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping personally to the Vietnam-China relationship.
The senior leaders of the two Parties and countries will discuss in depth major and comprehensive orientations on deepening and elevating the Vietnam-China Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership; promote the tradition of exchanges between senior leaders of the two Parties and countries to further consolidate political trust; actively promote increasingly in-depth cooperation in all areas, contributing to bringing the bilateral relationship to a new stage of development that is more substantial and effective.
Inheriting the tradition of friendship and practices between the two sides, the Party, State and people of Vietnam attach great importance to the visit and will give General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping a special welcome, full of friendship, comradeship and brotherhood.
Reporter: In recent times, Vietnam-China relations have continued to maintain a stable development momentum, with new developments, especially after General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China (October 30 - November 1, 2022). Could you please tell us, in that bright picture, which areas of cooperation are the most impressive highlights in the relationship between the two countries?
Ambassador Pham Sao Mai: First of all, it is necessary to affirm that the official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (October 30 - November 1, 2022) has created a strong impetus for the two countries to continuously consolidate and strengthen the friendly neighborly relationship and comprehensive cooperation, creating a favorable foundation to bring the Vietnam-China relationship to a new, comprehensive and sustainable stage of development.
Over the past time, with the joint efforts of both sides, the Vietnam-China Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership has continued to maintain a stable development momentum overall, achieving many important results. In particular, since the beginning of this year, after China optimized its Covid-19 prevention and control policies, direct exchanges and cooperation between the two countries have been officially restored and achieved many positive developments.
Regarding political relations, high-level exchanges and contacts have taken place closely, contributing significantly to enhancing political trust between the two Parties and two countries.
President Vo Van Thuong attends the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRI) hosted by China (October 2023); Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pays an official visit to China and attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Tianjin (June 2023), attends the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and the 20th China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) in Nanning (September 2023); Standing member of the Secretariat Truong Thi Mai visits and works in China (April 2023).
During these trips, the two countries' senior leaders had many important contacts, continuing to propose major measures to effectively implement the important common perceptions of the two top leaders, creating a strong driving force to promote the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between Vietnam and China to develop stably and healthily. Cooperation and exchanges through the Party channel, between the two governments, the National Assembly/National People's Congress, the Fatherland Front/Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as well as between important ministries and branches such as Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Public Security, etc., border localities and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries achieved many substantive results.
The two sides have just successfully organized the 15th Meeting of the Vietnam-China Bilateral Cooperation Steering Committee (December 2023) with many rich results.
Economic and trade cooperation continues to be a bright spot in bilateral relations. In the context of declining trade between China and its partners, Vietnam is one of the few partners that has maintained stable trade with China. The two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and China in the first 10 months of the year reached 139.2 billion USD (according to Chinese customs data, it reached 185 billion USD).
China remains Vietnam's largest trading partner and second largest export market; while Vietnam is China's largest trading partner in ASEAN and China's 8th largest partner in the world.
Regarding investment, in the first 11 months of 2023, China invested 3.06 billion USD in Vietnam, accounting for 18.7% of the total newly licensed foreign investment capital, ranking 4th, but leading in the number of new investment projects in Vietnam (accounting for 22.1%). The two sides also actively coordinated to gradually remove and resolve outstanding problems in a number of previous economic cooperation projects.
Cooperation in other areas such as tourism, culture, and education continues to make progress. China has basically restored commercial flights to Vietnam; there are currently more than 200 flights between the two countries every week; in the first 11 months of 2023, 1.5 million Chinese visitors visited Vietnam; China has resumed visa issuance for Vietnamese students and workers returning to China.
The Vietnam-China land border remains peaceful and stable. The two sides have closely coordinated in implementing legal documents on the Vietnam-China land border, strengthening security and safety management in border areas; closely coordinated and satisfactorily handled issues arising on the basis of three legal documents on the land border. Regarding maritime issues, the two sides reached a common understanding on properly controlling disagreements, maintaining peace and stability at sea in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, while actively promoting negotiation mechanisms on maritime issues, fully and effectively implementing the DOC, and striving to build a substantive, effective and efficient COC.
In addition, the two sides also actively coordinate at multilateral forums to promote peace, stability and cooperation in the region and the world, promote the central role of ASEAN, comply with the United Nations Charter and international law.
Reporter: In the context of the good progress of the relationship between the two countries, this visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping will create a new turning point and new momentum for the relationship between the two countries. How does the Ambassador evaluate this assessment and what are his expectations for the future of the Vietnam-China relationship in the coming time?
Ambassador Pham Sao Mai: Vietnam and China have a long-standing traditional friendship, which has been built and nurtured by many generations of leaders and people of the two countries. In the context of the current good development of the relationship between the two countries, the State visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping will certainly create more momentum to deepen and elevate the Vietnam-China Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, creating a foundation for all levels and sectors of the two sides to actively deepen and expand cooperation, bringing practical benefits to the two Parties, two countries and two peoples.
To further promote the potential and strengths of bilateral relations, I believe that in the coming time, the two countries need to closely coordinate, seriously and fully implement the common perception of the high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and two countries as well as bilateral agreements, contributing to further strengthening political trust; jointly remove difficulties and obstacles, promote and improve the quality of substantive cooperation in all fields.
I firmly believe that, on the basis of the advantages, potentials, needs and existing foundations of bilateral relations, with the determination and joint efforts of the two Parties, two countries and two peoples, the Vietnam-China Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership will develop strongly in the coming time, for the benefit of the two peoples, for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.
Reporter: Thank you very much, Ambassador!
According to Nhan Dan Newspaper
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