More room ahead to build substantial ties between Vietnam and China
VOV.VN - There remains plenty of room to create stronger cooperation between Vietnam and China following the recent visit to China by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, said Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo.
In an exclusive interview recently granted to VOV, Ambassador Xiong noted that during their talks in Beijing, Chinese Party General Secretary cum President Xi Jinping and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong outlined major orientations for the Vietnam – China relations over the coming years. The top leaders affirmed that the two sides will continue to support each other on their socialist path, as well as in realising the common and long-term development goals set out by the two parties at the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. In addition, the two sides also issued a joint statement and signed 13 cooperation documents on this occasion.
“Undoubtedly, the visit was extremely successful and was supported by the two countries’ people and noticed by the international public,” said Ambassador Xiong.
To realize their perceptions, the Chinese diplomat said both countries will maintain high-level talks, meetings, and exchanges, alongside holding workshops and personnel training in 2023.
According to the ambassador, both sides have important influence in the region and the wider world. They have common interests, agreeing that it is necessary to ensure peace and stability in the region and to strengthen cooperation between China and ASEAN, of which Vietnam is a key member.
Furthermore, the two sides need to strengthen trade links, because “We have excellent conditions to cooperate in this field and still have great potential for growth,” said Ambassador Xiong.
He cited Chinese statistics as saying that total trade turnover between both sides stood at more than US$230 billion in 2021, a figure that is higher than the trade turnover between China and any European country. Despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two-way trade turnover by the end of November 2022, hit US$210 billion.
“Given such impressive growth we do expect the figure for the whole year will be even higher,” said the Ambassador.
He voiced China’s strong support for Vietnam’s goal to become a developed and high-income economy by the middle of this century, as well as its desire to assist the country in achieving this goal.
To this end, he stressed the respective parties and governments of the two countries must seek to strengthen strategic exchanges, while their ministries, agencies, and enterprises need to strengthen ties and exchange experiences.
“Vietnam recorded impressive economic growth of 8.02% last year, and we believe this trend will continue,” said the Chinese Ambassador.
Cultural and people-to-people exchanges are also major areas of cooperation that need to be given special attention, because “Vietnam and China are both comrades and brothers, with many similarities in culture,” he noted.
He once again cited statistics as saying more than 10 million Vietnamese and Chinese people had entered each other’s territories a year before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, not to mention those crossing each other’s borders. Indeed, the number of Chinese travelers to Vietnam alone also hit 5.8 million.
“Vietnam has great tourism resources with major attractive destinations such as Ha Long Bay, Nha Trang that are favoured by Chinese travelers. It’s now time to foster tourism cooperation between the two countries, as China is speeding up the process of coming out of the shadow pandemic,” stated the diplomat.
Concluding the interview, Ambassador Xiong pointed out that the traditional friendship between the two countries fostered by president Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam and Chairman Mao Zedong of China, as well as other generations of leaders of the two countries is a very valuable asset that needs to be preserved, consolidated, and promoted in the future.
