Vietnam PM to visit China from June 25-28 

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will attend the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, in Tianjin, while on an official visit to China from June 25-28, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday.

The visit will be made at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that during PM Chinh’s visit, the two sides will discuss how to implement the common understandings reached by top Party leaders, exchange views on further Belt and Road cooperation, enhance connectivity, and stabilize supply chains.

The visit will strengthen the positive momentum of growth in bilateral relations and comprehensive strategic cooperation, the Chinese ministry added.

In 2008, China became the first country that Vietnam elevated its bilateral ties with to a comprehensive strategic level, followed by Russia in 2012, India in 2016, and South Korea in 2022.

The northern neighbor, as a major economic partner, has been Vietnam’s biggest trade partner since 2004. Bilateral trade reached $63.2 billion in the first five months of this year, according to the General Statistics Office, of which Vietnam’s export revenue was $19.8 billion and import expenditure was $43.4 billion.

As of May 2023, mainland China was the sixth-largest foreign investor in Vietnam with 3,720 registered projects and total registered capital of $24.88 billion, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment. The top ones are South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan (China), and Hong Kong (China).

Vietnam's Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made an official visit to China last October. The visit, at the invitation by China's Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, took 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 was the first by a foreign leader to China after the congress.

The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions, slated for June 27-29, features the theme “Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force of the Global Economy”. It will address the evolving landscape amid challenges posted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the more competitive geopolitical and geoeconomic environment. The event will focus on energy transition, safeguarding nature, and climate change, among others.