Vietnamese President Võ Văn Thưởng (right) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi had talks in Hà Nội on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese President Võ Văn Thưởng hosted a reception in Hà Nội on Friday for Politburo member, Director of the Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's Commission for Foreign Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, who is in Việt Nam to attend the 15th meeting of the Việt Nam-China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation.

Both sides agreed that following the highly successful visit to China by Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng October 2022, the relations between the two Parties and countries have maintained development momentum and achieved many new accomplishments, with high-level exchanges and meetings, growth in economic and trade ties, and increasingly vibrant people-to-people and locality-to-locality exchanges.

President Thuong said the Vietnamese Party, State and people always consider the relationship with China a strategic choice and a top priority in its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation, and diversification of ties.

Wang affirmed that the Chinese Party, Government and people attach great importance to the friendly neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperation with the Party, State and people of Việt Nam, and consider this a priority direction in the foreign policy of China.

China always supports Việt Nam to successfully implement its industrialisation and modernisation goal, towards realising the vision and development aspiration set by the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV), he said.

Thưởng suggested the two sides increase high-level exchange activities and meetings, and effectively deploy cooperation mechanisms between the two Parties, and between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, as well as between the Việt Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), thus deepening the Việt Nam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the coming time.

He also suggested the two sides to continue promoting the role of the Việt Nam-China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation, enhance cooperation in important fields such as diplomacy, defence, and security, improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation in fields, especially economics-trade, investment, and transportation, and boost people-to-people exchange.

Regarding the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue, President THưởng urged the two sides to well implement high-level common perceptions, better control and address disagreements at sea, put themselves in each other's position, and respect each other's legitimate and legal interests in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), thus jointly building the East Sea into a sea of peace, friendship, cooperation and development.

Thanking the Vietnamese President for his attention and opinions on developing relations between the two Parties and two countries, the Chinese official agreed that the two sides will continue to well implement high-level common perceptions, well implement specific cooperation measures put forth at the 15th Meeting of the China-Việt Nam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation; further deepen cooperation in all fields between the two countries; properly control and handle disagreements at sea, and make the China-Việt Nam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to develop healthily and stably, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries. — VNS