Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Minh Hằng (L) and Liu Ning, member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. VNA/VNS Photo

GUANGXI – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Minh Hằng has led a delegation of five Vietnamese localities – Cà Mau, Ninh Thuận, Ninh Bình, Nam Định, and Vĩnh Long— to pay an official visit to China’s Guangxi, as part of the annual cooperation programme between the ministry and the autonomous region that shares a long borderline with Việt Nam.

During the trip, from November 20-22, Deputy Minister Hằng met with Liu Ning, member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, while joining Xu Yongke, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to co-chair a seminar on enhancing local-level foreign affairs and tourism cooperation between Việt Nam and the Chinese region. At the event, Liu conferred the Guangxi honorary citizen title on Vietnamese Consul General in Nanning Đỗ Nam Trung.

In Liuzhou city, the Vietnamese delegation met with the region's vice chairperson and Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Tan Feichuang, and visited the former residence of late Vietnamese President Hồ Chí Minh. Additional activities included discussions with officials in Chongzuo and a visit to the cross-border landscape site of Bản Giốc (Việt Nam) - Detian (China) Waterfalls.

These meetings saw both sides agreeing that the countries’ comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership is thriving, marked by fruitful recent high-level exchanges that have laid the groundwork for strengthened cooperation across all fields.

At the meeting with Liu Ning, Deputy Minister Hằng stressed that Việt Nam prioritises maintaining stable, sustainable, and long-term relations with China as part of its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralism, and diversification.

She suggested stepping up bilateral exchanges in various sectors and mutually beneficial cooperation to deliver tangible benefits for the peoples of both nations. Vietnam will create the best conditions possible for stronger ties between Guangxi and Vietnamese localities, particularly beyond the region’s existing connections with Quảng Ninh, Lạng Sơn, Cao Bằng, and Hà Giang.

Hằng urged both sides to increase delegation exchanges, promote people-to-people diplomacy, strengthen transportation links, advance practical trade, tourism, and investment partnerships, optimize the Bản Giốc-Detian Waterfalls site, ensure broader market access for Vietnamese agricultural products in Guangxi and across China, and further work closely in land border management.

In response, Liu pledged to bolster cooperation between Guangxi and Vietnamese provinces, boost people-to-people exchange and trade-investment-tourism collaboration, strengthen transport connectivity, particularly via the standard gauge routes of Lạng Sơn-Hà Nội and Móng Cái-Hạ Long-Hải Phòng, and streamline border gate procedures.

Meeting with Tan in Liuzhou, Hằng called for increased investments and tourism expansion between the city and Vietnamese localities. Liuzhou leaders affirmed their commitment to preserving historical sites related to President Hồ Chí Minh in the city and organising educational initiatives for Vietnamese and Chinese youth to deepen their understanding of the bilateral ties. VNS