Vietnamese Ambassador to China Phạm Sao Mai. — VNA/VNS Photo

BEIJING — Thanks to efforts from both sides, friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Việt Nam and China has recorded many new positive developments recently, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to China Phạm Sao Mai.

The diplomat recently granted an interview to Beijing-based correspondents of Vietnamese press agencies ahead of a visit to China on July 12-13 by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Bình Minh, chairman of the steering committee for Việt Nam-China cooperation, at the invitation of Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also chairman of the steering committee for China-Việt Nam cooperation. During the trip, Minh will co-chair the steering committee’s 14th meeting in Nanning city of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Assessing bilateral relations, the ambassador said high-level meetings have been maintained in flexible forms, which has greatly helped enhance political trust between the two Parties and countries. Cooperation via the Party-to-Party, defence, public security, and locality-to-locality channels has been sustained.

Economic and trade ties have developed stably, he said, noting that China remains the largest trading partner and the second-biggest export market of Việt Nam. At the same time, Việt Nam also continues to rank first in ASEAN and sixth globally among trading partners of China.

According to customs authorities of Việt Nam, bilateral trade reached US$165.8 billion in 2021 and $64.06 billion in the first five months of 2022, respectively rising 24.6 per cent and 13.3 per cent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, China ranks sixth among 139 countries and territories investing in Việt Nam with total registered capital of $22.31 billion as of June 2022.

In addition, substantive outcomes have been recorded in the two countries' cooperation against COVID-19, Mai said, adding that China is one of the largest suppliers of COVID-19 vaccines for Việt Nam, helping to effectively bring the pandemic under control.

Regarding border and territorial issues, the ambassador said the land border has stayed peaceful and stable, with both sides coordinating closely to properly settle issues emerging on the basis of the three legal documents on the land border. The situation at sea has seen some new complicated factors, but it is basically stable as the two sides have maintained dialogue and negotiation channels and made efforts to control disagreements on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Việt Nam and China have also actively worked with each other at multilateral forums, especially ASEAN and the UN, to promote peace, stability and cooperation in the region and the world. They have supported each other in international organisations, he said.

Highlighting the significance of the coming visit by Deputy PM Minh, Mai said the trip reflects both sides’ resolve to maintain close contact between the two Parties and countries so as to further strengthen political trust. It will help effectively implement Vietnamese and Chinese leaders’ common perceptions in order to develop friendship and win-win cooperation in a result-oriented manner. The two sides will review bilateral cooperation since the steering committee’s 13th meeting in September 2021 and discuss major orientations and concrete measures for promoting bilateral ties in all aspects.

He held that to further bring into play the potential and advantages of bilateral cooperation, Việt Nam and China should coordinate closely with each other to seriously and fully carry out their leaders’ common perceptions, as well as bilateral agreements, tackle difficulties and obstacles, and improve cooperation quality in all spheres. — VNS