Party leader’s visit to take Vietnam-China ties to new development period

Vietnam's Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong left Hanoi Sunday on an official visit to China which will run through Tuesday.

The visit, at the invitation by China's Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, takes place right after the end of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Chinese media reported that Party chief Trong's visit is the first by a foreign leader to China after the congress.

The visit aims to actively carry out the foreign policy set at Vietnam's 13th National Party Congress, and raise mutual understanding and political trust between the two Parties, States and people, towards taking bilateral ties to a new development period.

In recent years, ties between Vietnam and China have maintained a stable and positive trend. Their leaders have reached important common perceptions, helping lift bilateral ties to new heights.

The two Parties have maintained high-level visits and established cooperation and exchange mechanisms between Party committees at the central level. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the two sides have maintained regular exchanges in flexible forms.

During important political events of the two Parties, especially the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in 2021, special congratulations were exchanged, showing the great importance that they attach to the bilateral relations.

The cooperation plan for the 2016-2020 period was also effectively implemented. In April 2022, they signed a cooperation plan and another on personnel training cooperation between the two Parties for the 2021-2025 period.

The two Parties regularly coordinate to hold theoretical workshops to share experiences in Party building and national governance, with 16 workshops held so far.

Cooperation via the State channel has been promoted effectively and substantially. Relations between sectors such as diplomacy, national defence and security continued to be reinforced. The two sides established a Steering Committee for Viet Nam-China Bilateral Cooperation in November 2006, with 14 meetings held with practical results.

Vietnam and China have also enjoyed good growth in economic, trade and investment cooperation. Vietnam has been China’s biggest ASEAN trade partner since 2016 and the sixth biggest trade partner globally since 2020.

In the first eight months of this year, two-way trade hit $117.4 billion, up 10.8 per cent from 2021. As of August 20, China ranked sixth among 139 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 3,453 valid projects and a total registered capital of $22.42 billion.

In January-August this year, China ranked fourth among 94 countries and territories investing in Việt Nam with 143 projects worth $1.4 billion.

Health cooperation, especially in the fight against Covid-19, is a bright spot in the relationship. China is one of the largest and fastest vaccine suppliers for Vietnam, with 7.3 million doses in donation and about 45 million doses in sales (all Sinopharm’s Vero Cell Inactivated) as of late 2021.

At the 14th meeting of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in July this year, China announced that it would give Vietnam an additional 10 million doses of vaccine. Recently, through the Party channel, China offered a batch of medical supplies worth 1.5 million Chinese yuan ($234,000) to Vietnam as a gift.

The visit of General Secretary Trong is also expected to create new and positive changes in equal and mutually beneficial cooperation in economy, trade, investment and other fields; enhance defence-security cooperation and collaboration at international forums, develop ties between mass organisations and people-to-people exchanges.

It is also meant to strengthen high-level common awareness of controlling disputes and removing difficulties and obstacles, and properly handling issues at sea by peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); maintaining peace in the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea); stepping up negotiations on sea-related issues within bilateral and ASEAN frameworks; promoting respect for Vietnam’s legitimate interests in the East Sea in line with international law and the 1982 UNCLOS; and reinforcing a land borderline of peace, friendship and cooperation.

The visit aims to affirm Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching importance to relations with China as a top priority, and the wish for a long-term, stable and increasingly effective development of bilateral ties as agreed by the two countries’ leaders. It is also to clarify Vietnam’s issues of concern and legitimate interests.

At the same time, it will also show support for ideas and guidelines for development adopted by the 20th National Congress of the CPC that are conducive to peace, cooperation and development, the "leadership nucleus" position of General Secretary Xi set by the CPC while promoting China's policy of friendship and cooperation in support development and increasingly high international stature.