BEIJING – Việt Nam pursues a consistent policy of attaching special importance to its friendship with China and giving it a top priority in the country’s foreign policy, affirmed Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.

PM Phúc made the confirmation at his meeting with Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday during his official visit to China.

Việt Nam and China are embarking on an important phase of the renewal and open-door process so ensuring a peaceful, stable and cooperative environment for national construction and development are their common interests, according to the Prime Minister.

Fostering the time-honoured friendship and developing the relations in a stable, healthy and sustainable manner is crucial for the respective countries’ national construction and development and beneficial to peace, stability and development in the region and the world at large, he added, mentioning to the responsibility of generations of Party and State leaders in the work.

The Vietnamese leader also proposed several major orientations to further tighten the relations between the two Parties and countries, stressing the extreme importance of strengthening political trust and boosting results-oriented cooperation.

He asked both sides to soundly manage disputes at sea, comply with agreements and common perceptions of their high-level leaders, effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and soon sign a Code of Conduct in the East Sea, in order to help stabilise the situation and contribute to peace, cooperation and development in the region.

Regarding economic and trade ties, PM Phúc confirmed that Việt Nam treasures its mutually beneficial cooperation with China and welcomes Chinese investors in fields meeting respective development requirements.

He requested the two countries’ ministries and agencies settle difficulties to develop the bilateral economic and trade relations effectively and sustainably.

For his part, Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi said PM Phúc’s visit was significant for the consolidation and enhancement of the friendly neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

He expressed his belief that Vietnam would gain greater achievements in the process of reform and nation building.

He affirmed the importance that the Party, Government and people of China always attach to developing relations with Việt Nam, adding that China stood ready to work together with the country to grasp the development trend of the bilateral ties, maintain visits and high-level meetings, and step up pragmatic cooperation across fields as well as people-to-people exchanges.

At the same time, China would join hands with Việt Nam to manage their differences and satisfactorily solve disputes, thus deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in a stable and sustainable fashion, he said.

China also attaches importance to boosting mutually beneficial collaboration with Việt Nam. He suggested the two sides carry forward the role played by the China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Bilateral Co-operation in coordinating and forging the affiliation.

It is necessary for the two sides to ramp up their connectivity in the development strategy within the frameworks of the “One Belt, One Road” and “Two Corridors, One Economic Belt,” according to Xi.

They should beef up collaboration in production and tourism, soon build joint border economic zones and hasten the implementation of key cooperation projects.

The host promised that China would encourage businesses having high capacity and using high technology to invest in Vietnam, and would actively partner with the country in addressing problems hindering bilateral economic and trade ties.

As part of his official visit to China on the same day, PM Phúc met with Wang Jiarui, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

He called on the Chinese official to make more contributions to consolidating and enhancing the time-honoured friendship between social organisations and people of the two countries, helping push forward the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

The same day, he had a meeting with the staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in China and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Beijing.

Experts’ help

Earlier yesterday, PM Phúc met with families of former Chinese experts who lent Việt Nam a hand during past resistance wars.
The PM said he was touched by meeting the former experts and their relatives who have greatly contributed to the two countries’ friendship, solidarity and cooperation.
He described the former experts and their relatives’ contribution and sentiment to his country as a vivid demonstration of the time-honoured and strong friendship between Việt Nam and China.
The Party and State of Việt Nam always keep in mind their devotion to the nations’ amity and solidarity, he said, voicing his hope that their sincere sentiment will be upheld and developed by younger generations, thereby intensifying bilateral relations.
On behalf of the Chinese side, Zhang Dewei, formerly Chinese Ambassador to Việt Nam, recalled the time he and his Vietnamese comrades weathered difficulties during the resistance wars against invaders. He said he considered Việt Nam his second homeland.
Talking about the life and career of Việt Nam’s late President Hồ Chí Minh, he noted that the Việt Nam-China friendship had been nurtured by Presidents Hồ Chí Minh and Mao Zedong and following leaders of the countries. It is a precious asset shared by the two Parties, States and peoples, and it would need to be treasured and promoted by future generations.
At the meeting, representatives of former experts’ families also recollected the two peoples’ close connections throughout history, and promised they would continue educating their descendants about the priceless amity between the Chinese and Vietnamese Parties, States and peoples.

Meeting with banking, corporate executives

On the same day, Prime Minister Phúc affirmed that the Vietnamese government was striving to improve the business climate and offer all possible support to firms during meetings with Chinese banking and corporate executives in Beijing.
At a reception for the President of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Yi Huiman, the PM made it clear that Việt Nam welcomes prestigious banks with high liquidity operating in Việt Nam, including the ICBC.
In this spirit, he asked the ICBC to work with the State Bank of Việt Nam to devise effective and practical methods of cooperation.
Yi, for his part, spoke highly of Việt Nam’s socio-economic achievements, especially in the field of finance-banking.
As one of the five Chinese banks operating in Việt Nam, the ICBC is funding a number of key socio-economic projects in Việt Nam and 80 percent of its staff there are Vietnamese, according to Yi.
He affirmed that the ICBC wanted to contribute more to Việt Nam’s industrialisation, modernisation and infrastructure upgrade.
Meeting the President of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Zhou Mubing, the Government leader lauded the ABC for its trans-border payment service over the past years, contributing to boosting Việt Nam-China economic and trade ties.
He told his host that the State Bank of Việt Nam would consider ABC’s proposal to open a branch in the country.
Zhou described Việt Nam as China’s largest trade partner in ASEAN, adding that the ABC has joined a number of projects to elevate bilateral economic and trade ties.
He hoped that the Vietnamese government would facilitate ABC’s credit activities in Việt Nam in the near future.
During a meeting with the Asia Director of Zhongxing Corporation Fan Hu and Vice President of Huawei Corporation Wanghui, the PM asked the two leading Chinese telecommunications firms to forge closer ties with Vietnamese partners.
He said he supported their proposal to collaborate with Vietnamese localities to build smart cities and transport systems in Việt Nam.
The executives expressed their wish for continued support from the PM, ministries and local authorities to do business with Vietnamese partners in the mutually-beneficial spirit, for the sake of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

Railway project

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc met with Ma Jiangqian, the general director of the Chinese company China Railway Sixth Group Co. Ltd, in which he asked the contractor of Hà Nội’s Cát Linh-Hà Đông railway project to promptly address existing problems to ensure the project’s scheduled progress.
The executive said the company would strive to launch a trial run of the railway in July 2017, and start official operation two months later.
The PM said a big and prestigious State-owned enterprise like China Railway Sixth Group Co. Ltd. should be aware of its responsibility and act immediately to deal with project delays.
The slow construction had seriously affected daily activities and traffic in Hà Nội, and caused dissatisfaction among the public, he said, noting that some accidents occured during the project implementation, killing several people.
The Vietnamese PM told the Chinese company to coordinate with its Vietnamese partners to ensure absolute construction safety. He also promised to convey the firm’s proposals to relevant ministries and Hà Nội authorities for consideration.
Ma Jiangqian reported to the PM the difficulties relating to the Cát Linh-Hà Đông railway project. He submitted proposals and vowed to complete the basic construction work by the end of December 2016.
Also yesterday, PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc received Zhao Hongjing, Deputy General Director of Huaxia Xingfu Co. Ltd – a business with infrastructure-related activities.
He applauded the cooperation between Huaxia Xingfu and Vietnamese localities, expressing hope that the firm will make effective investments in Việt Nam.
The company provides comprehensive solutions for socio-economic development through public-private partnerships in  infrastructure, industrial parks and high-speed rail.
Zhao hailed Việt Nam’s potential and development prospects and expressed his desire to boost investment in the country. – VNS