"The visit of General Secretary and President To Lam is a particularly important diplomatic activity between Vietnam and China this year."

PV: Minister, could you please share your expectations regarding the State visit to China by General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife? Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son: The State visit to China is the first overseas trip of General Secretary and President To Lam in his new position; it is a particularly important diplomatic activity between Vietnam and China this year, with a significant impact on the development trend of relations between the two Parties and two countries in the long term. The fact that General Secretary and President To Lam accepted the invitation of General Secretary and President Xi Jinping to conduct his first State visit to China after assuming his new position demonstrates the importance and top priority both sides place on consolidating and developing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and building a strategically significant Vietnam-China community with a shared future. Both sides are very much looking forward to the visit and expect to achieve results in the following areas: Firstly, building on the foundation of relations meticulously cultivated by the leaders of the two countries, including the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and other Vietnamese leaders, to continue and further develop the positive and favorable development trend of Vietnam-China relations achieved after the historic reciprocal visits of the top leaders of the two Parties and countries in recent times; maintaining high-level strategic exchanges, consolidating the foundation of political trust, and strengthening the orientation for the development of bilateral relations in the new period. Secondly, to agree on major directions and measures to effectively build the strategically significant Vietnam-China Community of Shared Future in accordance with the "six more" orientation agreed upon by both sides; the focus being on continuing to concretize the high-level common understanding and signed agreements; To bring about new progress in substantive cooperation, especially in areas of mutual interest such as railway connectivity, agricultural trade, high-quality investment, finance and monetary affairs, culture and tourism , people-to-people exchanges, etc. Thirdly, through frank, sincere, and substantive exchanges on border and territorial issues, to jointly address existing problems appropriately, better control and resolve disagreements at sea, and prevent maritime issues from affecting the healthy development of relations between the two Parties and two countries, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world . I believe that, with the special attention and close coordination of both sides, the State visit to China by General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife will be a great success, becoming a new milestone, opening a new phase of development for the friendly neighborly relations, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and the Vietnam-China Community of Shared Future, which has strategic significance. Reporter : Minister, could you assess the achievements of cooperation between Vietnam and China in recent years? Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son: After more than 30 years of normalization, especially more than 15 years since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework in 2008, the Vietnam-China relationship has made rapid and increasingly profound and comprehensive progress in all fields. In particular, following the historic official visit of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to China in October 2022 and the third state visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping in December 2023, both sides agreed to further deepen and elevate the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, building a strategically significant Vietnam-China community with a shared future based on the "six more" orientation, opening a new chapter for bilateral relations. From the beginning of 2024 to the present, the relationship between the two countries has maintained positive development momentum, with a strong cooperative atmosphere spreading to all levels, sectors, and strata of the people. Both sides assess that bilateral relations are at their deepest, most comprehensive, and most substantive level ever. The achievements of cooperation between the two countries are clearly demonstrated in three aspects: Firstly, high-level exchanges and contacts at all levels, from central to local, are maintained regularly with many flexible forms, thereby contributing to strengthening political trust and creating new momentum for all levels and sectors of both sides. Since the beginning of the year, Vietnam has had two key leadership delegations, including the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the National Assembly, visit and work in China. In addition, several members of the Politburo, Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and leaders of many ministries, sectors, and localities of Vietnam have visited China. The two sides have also opened up new areas of cooperation and established additional mechanisms for annual high-level exchanges between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the National People's Congress of China. Recently, the Chinese Party and State expressed their special affection and respect for the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China promptly sent a message of condolences; General Secretary and President Xi Jinping paid his respects at the Vietnamese Embassy in Beijing; a special representative, Politburo Standing Committee member and Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Wang Huning, attended the ceremony. Secondly, economic , trade, and investment cooperation continues to grow. We are impressed by figures such as the import-export turnover in the first six months of the year alone increasing by 24.1% compared to the same period in 2023, reaching US$94.5 billion; the number of FDI projects in the first half of this year continues to lead with 447 newly approved projects with a total registered capital of nearly US$1.3 billion; tourism is recovering positively (in the first seven months of the year, 2.1 million Chinese tourists visited Vietnam, higher than the whole of 2023). Agricultural cooperation between the two countries has made new progress with both sides basically completing the procedures for the official export of some Vietnamese agricultural products to China such as frozen durian, fresh coconut, fresh chili, passion fruit, etc. People-to-people exchanges have been strengthened, and the number of Vietnamese students studying in China has reached over 23,000, double the number before the Covid-19 pandemic. Thirdly, the overall situation on the land border remains stable; the situation in the East Sea is basically well controlled; and mechanisms for exchange and negotiation between the two sides on maritime issues are regularly maintained. Both sides are looking forward to organizing activities to commemorate 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.

Nhandan.vn

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