General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping along with their spouses during the latter's visit to Việt Nam in 2015. — VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

HÀ NỘI — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng has left Hà Nội on October 30 morning on an official visit to China which will run through November 1, 2022.

The visit is made at the invitation by General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping.

The visit aims to actively carry out the foreign policy set at the 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, contributing to maintaining an environment of peace, stability, cooperation and development.

In recent years, ties between Việt Nam 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. From 2020 to 2022, the General Secretaries of the two Parties held four phone talks. President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc talked on the phone with President Xi Jinping in May 2021, while the two Prime Ministers engaged in three phone talks, and the heads of the two legislatures held an online meeting in June 2021.

During important political events of the two Parties, especially the 13th National Congress of the CPV 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 2016-20 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 2021-25 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 Việt Nam-China Bilateral Cooperation in November 2006, with 14 meetings held with practical results.

People-to-people exchanges, especially between young people, have become more and more practical, helping to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two Parties, countries and people. Other exchange activities like the Việt Nam – China Border People's Festival and the Việt Nam – China People's Forum also contributed to consolidating a solid friendship foundation for relations.

Relations between localities of the two countries, especially those in border areas, have been strengthened in various forms with positive developments. Bilateral ties at multilateral forums have also grown stronger. 

Việt Nam and China have also enjoyed good growth in economic, trade and investment cooperation. Việt Nam 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 US$117.4 billion, up 10.8 per cent from 2021. As of August 20, China ranked sixth among 139 countries and territories investing in Việt Nam 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 Việt Nam, 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 Việt Nam an additional ten 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 Việt Nam as a gift.

Regarding the territorial border issue, the situation along the border both on the mainland and in the Gulf of Tonkin has been basically stable. Cooperation in the Gulf of Tonkin has been regularly conducted such as joint fishery and naval patrols, and release of fries to protect aquatic resources. The two sides continued to hold rounds of negotiations at Governmental and expert level in line with existing mechanisms.

Việt Nam and China also maintained exchanges and negotiations on sea-related issues at all levels, and made certain progress in cooperation in less sensitive areas. They signed a cooperation agreement on a project on comparative study of geological environment and hazards in the Red River Delta and Yangtze River Delta, and are committed to soon reaching a cooperation agreement on search and rescue, and an agreement on the establishment of a hotline to deal with contingent fishing cases at sea.

The visit of General Secretary Trọng 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 Việt Nam’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 Việt Nam’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 Việt Nam’s issues of concern and legitimate interests.

At the same time, the visit 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. — VNS