General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping is expected to pay an official visit to Vietnam next week. Commenting on this event, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Quang, former Director of the China - Northeast Asia Department, Central Party Committee's Foreign Affairs Commission, former Minister, Deputy Ambassador of Vietnam to China, Vice President of the Vietnam - China Friendship Association, told Dan Tri that this is a visit of special significance.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong welcomed General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping during his visit in 2017 (Photo: Tien Tuan).

Firstly, this is Mr. Xi Jinping's third visit to Vietnam as General Secretary and President of China. Since the two countries normalized relations, this is the first time a General Secretary and President of China has visited Vietnam three times. Secondly, the visit takes place in the context of Vietnam - China relations being at a much more favorable development stage than before, in terms of politics - diplomacy, economy as well as other fields. Thirdly, after the historic visit of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to China last year, this visit of General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping is expected to open a new and better development step for bilateral relations. Mr. Vinh Quang said that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China last year was a visit of historic significance in the relationship between the two countries. The visit took place at an important time, when the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China had just ended. The visit also took place three years after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which prevented high-level visits from taking place. Therefore, this visit is even more significant. During General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China, the two sides issued a Vietnam-China Joint Statement on continuing to promote and deepen the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. According to Mr. Vinh Quang, this is the longest joint statement in the history of bilateral relations, covering the most issues, from macro to micro issues. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit is historic because it opened a new phase, creating a new atmosphere in exchanges between the two countries. Since then, within a year, high-ranking Vietnamese leaders have also visited China, including Politburo member and Permanent Secretary of the Secretariat Truong Thi Mai, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and President Vo Van Thuong. These visits are all very important and have special significance, playing a role in guiding and guiding bilateral relations in the right direction.

Many similarities in Vietnam - China relations

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping at the Friendship Medal award ceremony in Beijing in 2022 (Photo: Xinhua).

Reviewing the Vietnam-China relationship, Mr. Vinh Quang said that the relationship between the two countries has spanned thousands of years, is the relationship between two peoples, the relationship between two Parties and the relationship between two countries. In 1999, Vietnam and China identified the 16-word motto, guiding the relationship between the two countries in the 21st century as "friendly neighbors, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability, looking towards the future". After that, Vietnam and China identified developing the relationship in the spirit of 4 goods: "good neighbors, good friends, good comrades, good partners". This is also the goal of the two countries. In 2008, the two sides agreed to establish the framework of the Vietnam-China relationship as a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership according to the "16-word" motto and the "4 goods" spirit. Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership is the highest level diplomatic framework in Vietnam's foreign relations with a country. Mr. Vinh Quang said that over the past 73 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the relationship between Vietnam and China has experienced ups and downs. However, in general, this relationship has developed in an upward direction. Vietnam and China are two neighboring countries, the aspiration of the people of the two countries is to live in peace, have long-term stability, and develop together. This aspiration has been expressed in the common perception of high-ranking leaders and has promoted the development of Vietnam - China relations in the good direction as it is today. China has not only provided effective assistance to Vietnam in the two resistance wars, but also in the cause of building socialism. Some projects that China previously supported Vietnam have been very effective in building the country. At present, the relationship between the two countries is developing favorably, especially since the official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in late October and early November last year. Over the past year, the two countries have restored many active exchange activities after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr. Nguyen Vinh Quang, former Director of the China - Northeast Asia Department, Central Party Committee's Foreign Affairs Commission, former Minister, Deputy Ambassador of Vietnam to China, Vice President of the Vietnam - China Friendship Association (Photo: Thanh Dat).

According to Mr. Vinh Quang, the Vietnam-China relationship can develop well as it is today because the two countries have very basic similarities. First of all, there are political similarities. Vietnam and China are both socialist countries, both led by the Communist Party. Among all the current socialist countries, Vietnam and China are the two countries with the most successful reform, opening up and innovation. The second basic similarity is economic institutions. Vietnam and China have both undergone the transition from a bureaucratically planned economy to a market economy. This similarity helps the two sides increase exchanges, sharing and learning from each other's experiences. The renovation and reform of the two countries have been very successful. In terms of geographical location, the two countries have about 1,400km of common border. This is also an important point because it is directly related to economic activities, exchanges, logistics, and circulation of goods... between the two countries. The third similarity is culture. As two neighboring countries, cultural exchanges between the two nations for thousands of years have created cultural exchanges. Former Chinese President Hu Jintao once said that Vietnam and China have "mountains and rivers connected, and cultures are connected". Cultural "connection" is a very basic condition for people of the two countries to understand each other better, and mutual understanding is the solid foundation of friendly relations. Similarities in politics, economics, and culture have helped Vietnam and China maintain, consolidate, and develop their relationship at the current high level. According to Mr. Vinh Quang, in the immediate future, Vietnam-China relations still have problems that cannot be resolved immediately. In order for bilateral relations to continue to develop in the future, the two countries need to be alert, look directly at those problems, and predict possible challenges to find satisfactory solutions. Among the existing problems, perhaps the biggest problem is territorial sovereignty in the East Sea. This is a long-standing issue that leaders of both sides have always paid attention to and discussed every time they met. The two sides have reached a number of important common perceptions and established many dialogue mechanisms to resolve the issue. However, while waiting for a resolution, both sides need to restrain and control actions that could cause tension, be detrimental to the relationship between the two countries and affect peace and stability in the region. In addition, in terms of trade and economy, the trade balance between Vietnam and China is still too large. Mr. Vinh Quang said that the trade balance gap is inevitable, but such a large gap for many years is unacceptable. The two sides must work together to find many solutions to solve the problem, because one side cannot solve it. Although the balance is difficult to balance, we must make that gap increasingly shorter.

Abundant room for development

According to Mr. Vinh Quang, the room for cooperation and development between Vietnam and China is still very large. The development potential of the two countries lies in many areas, such as connecting the supply chains of the two sides. The two sides can supply goods within their strengths to their partners. For example, agricultural and seafood products, China really needs these products from Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam needs to maximize its capacity to exploit the large Chinese market. The two sides need to focus on logistics, goods circulation, goods promotion, etc. to promote this field. Western China is in need of agricultural and seafood products. People in areas such as Chengdu, Sichuan, Guizhou, Tibet, Xinjiang, etc. welcome agricultural and seafood products from Vietnam. Therefore, the two sides can promote and find ways to open corridors to bring goods to this area. Currently, at all Vietnamese representative agencies in China, there are representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In addition, Vietnam has also opened trade promotion offices in Chongqing, Hangzhou and will soon open a trade promotion office in Chengdu, Hainan. Mr. Vinh Quang believes that these representative agencies will play an important role in resolving the trade deficit with China in the coming time. Regarding people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, Mr. Vinh Quang said that in recent years, people-to-people exchanges between Vietnam and China have been promoted and now is the time after the pandemic, it is necessary to restore activities according to existing mechanisms and the two sides can create new mechanisms to meet the needs of people-to-people exchanges in the new situation. The Vietnam-China People's Forum has been held 11 times. At these forums, the two sides of Vietnam and China discussed and made proposals to leaders and policymakers to adjust policies appropriately, meeting the aspirations of the people of the two countries. Through such activities, people of the two countries also understand each other better, thereby strengthening friendship.

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