Developing a deeper, more comprehensive and more substantive Vietnam-China relationship

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee and Vietnamese President To Lam and his spouse will pay a state visit to China from August 18-20 at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping and his spouse.

General Secretary and President To Lam’s acceptance of the invitation to pay a state visit to China as his first foreign trip following the assumption of his new role reflects the importance and top priority given by both countries to reinforcing and developing the bilateral relationship.

Affirmation of major orientations

After 74 years of diplomatic ties, the Vietnam-China relationship has been developing steadily and has recorded many important results, while the climate of cooperation has spread strongly to all levels, sectors and people from all walks of life.

On the foundation of the relationship assiduously cultivated by both countries’ leaders, especially General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s official visit to China in 2022 and Chinese General Secretary and President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam in 2023, the two countries agree to continue deepening and elevating the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and build a Vietnam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, thus opening a new chapter in the bilateral relationship.

Building on and further promoting the fine development trend, the two countries’ leaders have maintained high-level strategic exchanges, constantly strengthened the foundation of political trust, and enhanced orientations for the development of the bilateral relationship in a new period.

Vietnam is striving to successfully realise the targets and missions outlined in the resolution of the 13th Party Congress, conducting a review of the past 40 years of the Doi Moi reform, and gradually making preparations for the 14th Party Congress. China is stepping up the implementation of development tasks and goals, and deepening reform determined at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China.

General Secretary and President To Lam’s visit coincides with the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s arrival in Guangzhou from Moscow as a representative of the Communist International to carry out revolutionary activities.

Vietnam and China wish to promote the implementation of high-level joint agreements in the spirit of strengthening and deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership with the motto of “six more”: more political trust, more substantive defence-security cooperation, more practical and deeper cooperation, more solid social foundation, more close-knitted multilateral coordination, and more control and resolution of disagreements.

The highlight of the high-level contacts between the two countries’ leaders is the affirmation of the priorities in each country’s foreign policy. The two sides shared the view that the bilateral relationship is at its deepest, most comprehensive, and most substantive level to date. In particular, exchanges and contacts at high levels and at all levels are maintained regularly through many flexible forms, thereby contributing to enhancing political trust and creating new impetus for all levels and sectors of the two sides.

This year, two key Vietnamese delegations, including the prime minister and the chairman of the National Assembly, visited and worked in China. In addition, a number of Politburo members, secretaries of the Party Central Committee, and leaders of many ministries, sectors, and localities of Vietnam have also visited China. The two sides also opened new areas of cooperation and established an additional annual exchange mechanism at the high level between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the National People’s Congress of China.

With advantages such as close geographical distance and convenient transportation, local cooperation has increasingly become an important part of the overall cooperation in all fields between the two countries. In recent times, the exchange and cooperation between localities and people of the two countries have been very vibrant, achieving many positive results. Annual exchange mechanisms are maintained, such as the spring meetings between the secretaries of Provincial Party Committees of Vietnam’s Cao Bang, Lang Son, Ha Giang, and Quang Ninh provinces and China’s Guangxi Province; conferences between the secretaries of Provincial Party Committees of Vietnam’s Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Lai Chau, and Dien Bien provinces and China’s Yunnan Province; and others.

The two countries are working together to organise activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Land Border Treaty and the 15th anniversary of the signing of three legal documents on the Vietnam-China land border. The overall land border situation remains stable and the situation in the East Sea/South China Sea is basically under control. In particular, the mechanisms for exchange and negotiation between the two sides on maritime issues are regularly maintained.

Opening a new development phase

Vietnam continues to be China’s largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China’s fifth largest trading partner in the world. China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner, largest import market and second largest export market.

Economic, trade and investment cooperation has continuously deepened and become a bright spot in the relationship between the two countries in recent times. Import and export turnover between the two countries reached nearly 172 billion USD in 2023 and the turnover in the first six months of the year increased by 24.1% over the same period last year, reaching 94.5 billion USD. China’s direct investment in Vietnam continues to soar rapidly, reaching nearly 4.5 billion USD in 2023 and the number of FDI projects in the first half of this year continued to rank first with 447 newly licensed projects and a total registered capital of nearly 1.3 billion USD.

Agricultural cooperation between the two countries has made new progress with the initial completion of the export procedures for a number of Vietnamese agricultural products to China such as frozen durian, fresh coconut, fresh chili, and passion fruit, etc.

The two countries are aiming to increase connectivity, further facilitate trade, take advantage of e-commerce and upgrade and perfect the logistics system. At the same time, the two sides improve the efficiency of customs clearance of goods through building border trade infrastructure, especially smart border gates. Thereby, it helps maintain and ensure the smooth supply chain of goods between the two sides and strengthen cooperation in the field of standardisation, ensuring harmonisation of standards for goods and products of Vietnam and China.

Vietnam and China strive to maintain the trend of stable, balanced and sustainable development in bilateral trade, aiming to increase the exploitation of new markets with great potential in localities. At the same time, the two sides will take advantage of cooperation agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area and mechanisms such as the China International Import Expo (CIIE), the ASEAN-China Expo (CAEXPO), and the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) to enhance cooperation and connection for businesses of both sides.

Areas with great potential for cooperation and investment between the two countries are high-quality agriculture, innovation, infrastructure, digital economy, and green energy.  The two countries have great potential and strengths that can complement and support each other in various sectors, particularly in border infrastructure, road and rail infrastructure, and high-tech projects.

People-to-people exchanges are also prospering, such as the regular Vietnam-China people’s forums and friendship exchanges of young people, helping to deepen mutual understanding and solidify the social foundation of bilateral ties.

Cultural, educational, and tourism cooperation has yielded a lot of encouraging results. Currently, there are over 23,000 Vietnamese students living and studying in China. The number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam continues to rise, having reached approximately 2.1 million in the first seven months of 2024.

The state visit to China by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and a Vietnamese high-ranking delegation continued the implementation of the consistent foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress and Resolution No. 34-NQ/TW of the Politburo on independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, and diversification and multilateralisation of foreign relations, with priority given to friendly neighbouring countries.

At the same time, the visit continues and contributes to further promoting the positive and favourable development trend of Vietnam-China relations, especially since the two sides agreed to continue to deepen and elevate the relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, build a Vietnam-China community with a shared future carrying strategic significance, and strive for the happiness of the two countries' peoples, for peace and progress of mankind.

Production Manager: CHU HONG THANG – PHAM TRUONG SON
Content: NINH SON – VU PHONG