Officials from Cao Bằng Province of Việt Nam and Baise city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China hold talks on Friday. VNA/VNS Photo

CAO BẰNG — Officials from Cao Bằng province of Việt Nam and Baise city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China held talks on Friday to advance comprehensive cooperation across sectors, with a focus on border trade, health care, education and infrastructure connectivity.

The Vietnamese and Chinese localities share a long border and longstanding people-to-people exchanges, as well as cultural similarities - factors seen as favourable conditions for expanding bilateral cooperation.

In 2025, Cao Bằng organised 20 working delegations to visit and engage with Baise, while also hosting many delegations from Baise’s agencies and businesses. Cross-border import-export activities remained stable, with total turnover exceeding US$360 million.

The two sides are exploring a “red tourism” route linking Pắc Bó and Meng Mo (China) to promote revolutionary tradition education and strengthen bilateral friendship. They are also stepping up cooperation in human resource development through training exchanges and efforts to improve workforce quality.

Efforts are underway to build a “smart early warning platform” in health care, alongside enhanced information sharing to manage food safety risks, trace product origins and handle cases involving unsafe food. The two sides also agreed to strengthen coordination in monitoring and controlling cross-border public health risks.

Vice Chairwoman of the Cao Bằng Provincial People’s Committee Hà Nhật Lệ called for maintaining regular dialogue and expanding delegation exchanges, alongside stronger cooperation in health care and food safety, especially in cross-border disease control, data sharing, and emergency response.

She also urged enhanced border-gate economic cooperation, smoother customs clearance, and upgrades to border crossings and transport infrastructure to boost connectivity.

The two localities agreed to further enhance cooperation in education and training, expand cross-border tourism and strengthen coordination in border management to maintain security and order, towards building a peaceful, friendly, and stable border area with sustainable development.

For her part, Vice Mayor of Baise city Huang Caixue called for closer cooperation in food safety management, including building cross-border monitoring systems, improving business registration and product traceability at border markets, and recognising business licences.

She also proposed sharing rapid food testing technologies, developing cross-border culinary corridors, and organising food showcases at key border gates such as Trà Lĩnh–Longbang and Sóc Giang–Longbang.

In health care, Huang urged stronger coordination in preventing and controlling cross-border infectious diseases, enhancing data sharing and risk assessment, and conducting regular joint emergency drills. She also suggested expanding cross-border emergency medical corridors, establishing rapid-response transport for critical patients, and improving cross-border healthcare services.

Regarding education, the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in training officials, step up youth exchanges, and organise regular summer camps and study programmes, while exploring “friendship schools,” promoting online Vietnamese–Chinese language learning, and facilitating teacher exchanges.

The localities expressed interest in exploring the application of artificial intelligence and smart monitoring technologies to address shared challenges, particularly in food safety control, health care and education. — VNA/VNS