The visit of the high-ranking leaders marks a new milestone in the good-neighbourly relations between Vietnam and China.

Hanoi (VNA) – The state visit of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President of the People's Republic of China To Lam and his wife to China from August 18 to 20 was a great success, marking a new milestone and ushering in a new stage of development in the friendly neighborhood and comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

This is a particularly important diplomatic event between Vietnam and China in 2024, with a significant impact on the long-term development trend of relations between the two parties and countries.

The visit, Lam's first overseas trip since being elected general secretary of the 13th Communist Party Central Committee, included 18 key activities.

During her talks with General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping, Lam stressed her desire to work with her Chinese counterpart and other high-ranking Chinese leaders to inherit and maintain the long tradition of friendship between the two parties and the two countries, guiding Vietnam-China relations into a new phase of increasingly stable and sustainable development.

Xi Jinping strongly affirmed that China upholds its persistent policy of friendship with Vietnam and always regards Vietnam as a priority and strategic choice in its neighborhood diplomacy.

One of the highlights of the visit was the visit to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's arrival in Guangzhou as an international advisor to the Communist International. From 1924 to 1927, President Ho Chi Minh and the Chinese revolutionaries established a close friendship that was later described as a friendship of comrades and brothers.

The activity was an opportunity for both sides to recall the traditional friendship, solidarity and mutual support between the two parties, countries and peoples, laying a more solid social foundation for bilateral relations, according to Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and head of its External Relations Commission Le Hoai Trung.

Ahead of 2025, when the two countries will celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the leaders decided to designate 2025 as the “Year of Humanistic Exchanges between Vietnam and China” to raise public awareness of the traditional bilateral friendship.

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency in Beijing, Professor Yu Xiangdong, Director of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies at Zhengzhou University, said Lam's visit is a strategic choice based on the stable development of bilateral relations, demonstrating Vietnam's consistent position and policy of “bamboo diplomacy”, benefiting the noble cause of modernization that the CPV consistently promotes and in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples, and being helpful to maintaining and protecting peace, stability, development and prosperity of the region and the world.

He stressed that the visit bears symbolic significance, demonstrating the desire to continue the political legacy left by former Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who laid the foundation for the strategic and particularly important relationship between Vietnam and China.

More than 30 years after normalization, and more than 15 years since the establishment of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership framework in 2008, Vietnam-China relations have witnessed rapid and comprehensive progress in all areas.

Following General Secretary Trong's historic official visit to China in October 2022 and General Secretary and President Xi's third state visit to Vietnam in December last year, the two sides agreed to further deepen and elevate the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and build a Vietnam-China community with a shared future of strategic significance, thus opening a new chapter in bilateral relations.

Since the beginning of the year, relations between the two countries have been developing positively, with a strong atmosphere of cooperation at all levels, in all sectors and among the general public. Bilateral relations are considered to be at their deepest, most comprehensive and most substantial level ever, with increasing growth in economic, trade and investment cooperation.

On the occasion of the visit of the Vietnamese senior leaders, the two countries issued a joint statement on strengthening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and building a Vietnam-China community with a shared future.

High-ranking leaders of the two parties and countries devoted much attention and time to discussing cooperation directions in various fields, agreeing to strengthen cooperation in strategic areas such as diplomacy, defense and public security; expand cooperation linking the “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework with the “One Belt, One Road” initiative; accelerate “hard connectivity” in terms of railways, highways and border infrastructure; and improve “soft connectivity” in smart customs.

China has agreed to provide non-refundable assistance to Vietnam to develop the planning of northern railway lines connecting Vietnam and China, accelerate the pilot construction of smart border gates, implement the pilot construction of cross-border economic cooperation zones, jointly build safe and stable production and supply chains, and support Chinese enterprises with advanced capabilities, reputation and technology to invest in Vietnam.

Ministries, sectors and localities of the two countries signed documents on cooperation in the following fields: education, connectivity, industry, finance, customs, health, press and broadcasting, and local cooperation. These signed documents clearly reflect the determination of both sides to promote deeper and more substantial cooperation.

This visit is an important activity that implements Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralism and diversification, which includes a policy of regarding relations with China as a top priority.

The high-level agreements and concrete results achieved during the visit will continue to contribute to consolidating the favorable foreign situation, creating a peaceful and stable environment, providing more favorable conditions for promoting socio-economic development, raising the country's position and prestige, and successfully implementing the goals set by the 13th National Party Congress./.