China and Vietnam to expand cooperation

President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that Beijing and Hanoi will seize new opportunities to expand cooperation in areas including trade and economy, as well as interconnectivity and the digital economy, as China continues to deepen reforms in all areas and advance modernization.

He made the remarks during his meeting in Beijing with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is in China for the 15th annual meeting of the New Champions, also known as Summer Davos, held in Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China.

Noting that China always regards Vietnam as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, Xi said China is willing to work with Vietnam to strengthen the strategic direction of bilateral relations, firmly support each other and deepen mutual cooperation. beneficial, in order to walk together towards modernization.

As China will encourage more of its companies to increase investment in Vietnam, it hopes Vietnam will provide them with a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment, he said.

China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and its second-largest export market, while Vietnam is China's largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Bilateral trade increased from about $2.4 billion in 2000 to more than $229.7 billion last year, according to official statistics.

Chinh's visit comes after the two countries announced the construction of a strategically important Sino-Vietnamese community with a shared future during Xi's visit to Vietnam in December.

Xi said that for more than six months, high-level exchanges between political parties and governments of the two countries have been frequent, and cooperation in various fields has made progress, bringing concrete benefits to the people of the two countries.

“We are very satisfied with it,” he told the Vietnamese Prime Minister, pledging to join hands with Vietnam to make greater contributions to world peace, stability, development and prosperity .

To consolidate public support for China-Vietnam friendship, Xi called on the two countries to strengthen communication between border provinces, implement projects in agriculture, education and healthcare. health aimed at improving the well-being of the population, and making good use of platforms promoting relations between people. exchanges of people and young people.

He also stressed the need for the two neighboring countries to properly handle maritime issues, accelerate joint exploration at sea, and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.

The Vietnamese Prime Minister, who praised China's important role as the engine and foundation of global economic growth, said his country supports China's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, to which Vietnam left, and opposed it. the politicization of trade and technology issues.

He added that Vietnam supports China's position on the Taiwan issue and firmly adheres to the one-China principle.

Noting that deepening strategic mutual trust and practical cooperation with China is his country's top priority, Chinh said Vietnam will make building a Sino-Vietnamese community with a shared future of strategic importance its strategic choice and that this will not be the case. be affected by external incentives and interference.

Xu Liping, senior researcher of Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said strengthening cooperation between China and Vietnam, two modernizing socialist countries, is a choice win-win for them.

Xu said subnational cooperation will be one of the new growth areas for China and Vietnam as the two countries, connected by land and sea, have seen rapid development of border trade in recent years and are working to promote interconnectivity through Belt and Road cooperation.

Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, also met with Chinh on Wednesday.