Vietnam, China should boost rail links, lift tourism to pre-pandemic level: Deputy PM

Vietnam and China should boost transport infrastructure connectivity, especially railways, and attempt to revive tourism cooperation to pre-Covid levels, said Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang.

Quang made the statement while co-chairing the 15th meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in Hanoi on Friday, together with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The deputy prime minister also urged the neighboring countries to continue backing and facilitating their localities to improve collaboration.

Quang also called for improved customs clearance of goods at border gates and markets, opening up the Chinese market for Vietnamese fisheries and farm produce, establishing a trade-economy promotion office in Haikou, China’s Hainan province, and facilitating Vietnamese delegations to conduct trade and investment promotions and join trade fairs in China.

The two sides agreed on continuing trade and investment cooperation, increasing China’s investments in Vietnam’s sectors with advanced and environmental-friendly technology, and solving problems in sluggish projects funded by Chinese grants.

They also agreed to step up cooperation in science-technology, environment, transport, agriculture, and healthcare, and expand collaboration in culture, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

In September, leaders of China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) and Power China expressed their wish to develop railway projects in Vietnam while meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Nanning city, Guangxi province.

Chairman of China Railway Chen Yun Chen said the corporation would like to engage in the construction of railways in Vietnam, notably the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong route linking to the Kunming-Hanoi-Hai Phong economic corridor.

Vietnam plans to build railways including the 388-kilometer Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong line at a cost of $11 billion, the Vung Ang-Laos route with the section in Vietnam stretching 103 kilometers and costing $1.6 billion, and the 1,545-kilometer Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City (North-South) high-speed route with investment of $62 billion, the prime minister noted.

In 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, China was the biggest sources of foreign arrivals in Vietnam with 5.81 million, nearly one-third of Vietnam's total of 18 million, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The number of foreign arrivals to Vietnam has reached 11.2 million in the first 11 months of this year. South Korea was the largest source of tourists for Vietnam (3.2 million), followed by mainland China (1.5 million), per latest data of the GSO.

On the same day, Wang Yi paid a courtesy visit to Vietnamese Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong. The top Vietnamese leader requested diplomatic agencies of both countries to continue high-level exchanges to facilitate growth of bilateral ties.

In reply, Wang Yi said relevant agencies of the two countries would promote substantial and effective cooperation and enhance political trust to deepen their bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.