The meeting between Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn (first, left) and Politburo member and Director of the Communist Party of China Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi (first, right) in Jakarta on July 13. VNA/VNS Photo

JAKARTA Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn met with Politburo member and Director of the Communist Party of China Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi in Jakarta on July 13.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-56) and related meetings in the Indonesian capital.

Noting with satisfaction the recent strides in the Việt Nam - China relations, the two officials affirmed that their countries will keep attaching importance to each other’s role and the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. They will continue to effectively implement the joint statement issued during the China visit by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng in October 2022, and the concrete outcomes of the trip to the Northeast Asian nation by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính in June 2023.

Both sides agreed to further increase mutual visits and meetings at all levels; foster cooperation in all fields, especially economy and trade; boost transport connectivity, people-to-people exchanges and locality-to-locality ties; and make joint efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Minister Sơn asked the two sides to maintain cooperation mechanisms, improve their effectiveness, and coordinate to successfully organise the 15th session of the Vietnam - China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in the Southeast Asian country.

He called on China to continue increasing the import of goods from Việt Nam and accelerate the opening of its market to Vietnamese goods, especially agricultural and aquatic products; coordinate to ensure smooth customs clearance as many farm produce of Việt Nam are now in the harvest season; raise the quota of Vietnamese goods transited through China to be delivered to a third country by railway; boost transport and border gate connectivity; speed up the implementation of some cooperation projects; and work together to properly manage the land border, step up the opening and upgrade of some border gate pairs, and open the tourism site of Bản Giốc (Việt Nam) - Detian (China) Waterfalls on a trial basis soon.

Highly valuing Sơn’s cooperation suggestions, Wang recommended the two countries assist each other with national modernisation while enhancing high-quality connectivity between the “Belt and Road” initiative and the “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework.

He also pledged favourable conditions for Việt Nam to make better use of financial support from China.

At the meeting, the two sides agreed to properly carry out the high-level agreements and common perceptions, control and satisfactorily deal with differences, make efforts to sustain peace and stability at sea, fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and join ASEAN countries’ efforts to achieve a substantive and efficient code of conduct (COC) in the water that accords with international law, including international sea-related conventions, thereby helping guarantee peace, stability, and navigation freedom in the region as well as the rights and legitimate interests of the parties concerned.

They agreed to bring into play the role of bilateral mechanisms in the issues related to border, territory, and territorial waters.

The officials also discussed some international and regional issues of shared interest. They pledged that Việt Nam and China will keep close coordination at regional and international cooperation forums and mechanisms, including ASEAN-led ones. VNS