Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn (right) greets Chen Gang, Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to their talks in Hà Nội on February 19. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn held talks with Chen Gang, Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in Hà Nội on Wednesday.

The talks took place as part of Chen’s visit to Việt Nam where he also attended a New Year meeting for secretaries of the Party committees of Việt Nam's Quảng Ninh, Lạng Sơn, Cao Bằng, and Hà Giang provinces and China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Sơn emphasised the long-standing friendship between the two countries as well as the close ties between Guangxi and Vietnamese localities, saying Guangxi has been at the forefront in collaboration with Việt Nam.

Both sides expressed delight at the strong and positive momentum of the Việt Nam-China relations, especially after the two countries agreed to elevate their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and build a Việt Nam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance in December 2023.

They held that alongside the overall progress in bilateral relations, cooperation and exchanges between Vietnamese ministries, agencies, and localities and Guangxi have yielded significant achievements, especially in people-to-people exchange, trade and investment cooperation, transport connectivity, and border management coordination.

Looking ahead, Sơn suggested the two sides make full use of the Việt Nam-China Humanistic Exchange Year 2025 and the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties to enhance exchanges at all levels and across various sectors.

He also stressed the need to further promote customs clearance efficiency, accelerate the development of a pilot smart border gate model between Lạng Sơn and Guangxi, and step up multimodal transport connectivity via rail, road, and sea.

The two sides should prioritise advancing the planning of Lạng Sơn - Hà Nội, and Móng Cái - Hạ Long - Hải Phòng standard-gauge railway routes, the official continued.

Furthermore, he called for expanded cooperation in investment, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and clean energy, among other fields.

Son also suggested the two sides work together in border management and protection in accordance with the three legal documents on the Việt Nam-China land border and related documents.

He highlighted joint efforts in ensuring the safe and effective operation of the Bản Giốc (Việt Nam) – Detian (China) Waterfalls landscape site, and he called on Guangxi to provide more Chinese language scholarships for Lạng Sơn and other Vietnamese localities.

Agreeing with Sơn's proposals, Chen affirmed that Guangxi highly values its friendship and cooperation with Việt Nam and stands ready to materialise common perceptions reached by high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and countries, contributing to fostering the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and advancing the building of a Việt Nam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.

Chen also raised specific proposals to boost cooperation in areas such as all-level delegation exchange, economy, trade, customs facilitation, science-technology, AI, and cross-border transportation connectivity.

He extended an invitation to Vietnamese government representatives and businesses to participate in the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning in 2025, which will focus on digital economy and AI. — VNA/VNS