HÀ NỘI — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng held talks with General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and State President Xi Jinping on Sunday during the latter’s two-day State-level visit to Việt Nam.

Trọng congratulated the Chinese leader on the success of the CPC’s 19th National Congress and on his re-election as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee for the 19th tenure.

He said he believed that under the leadership of the CPC headed by Xi, Chinese people will achieve all targets set by the CPC’s 19th National Congress and turn China into a strong, democratic, civilised and modern socialist nation.

He also appreciated China’s participation in and contributions to the success of the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

Xi expressed his delight at visiting Việt Nam again right after the CPC’s 19th National Congress. He congratulated Việt Nam on successfully organising the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting as well as the meeting’s outcomes in fostering development in the region and the world.

He showed his sympathy over losses caused by recent disasters in Việt Nam.

During their talks, the two Party chiefs informed each other of their respective country’s situation, discussing and agreeing on major orientations and measures to boost the relations between the Parties and countries in the future.

The leaders said the two countries remain important economic partners, while trade, investment and tourism ties have enjoyed growth, and border situations on land and in the Gulf of Tonkin have basically been stable.

Both agreed to uphold the achieved results, and work actively to solve existing difficulties and shortcomings so as to develop the Việt Nam – China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership stably and sustainably.

Party General Secretary Trọng affirmed that Việt Nam treasures and wants to boost its friendship and the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China in a stable and deeper fashion, and back China’s efforts to grow further and contribute positively to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

He emphasised several main points to strengthen the friendship and cooperation between the two Parties and countries.

Firstly, he asked the countries to intensify delegation exchanges, increase the efficiency of collaboration between the two Parties, and strengthen cooperation between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the National People’s Congress of China, between the Việt Nam Fatherland Front and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and between the two countries’ ministries and peoples, particularly younger generations.

He stressed the need to promote the coordinating role of the Steering Committee on Bilateral Cooperation in supervising and speeding up the implementation of signed agreements, especially high-level ones, and step up cooperation in diplomacy, defence, security and law enforcement.

It is essential to implement the declaration on joint vision on defence cooperation by 2025, organise border defence exchanges and strategic defence dialogues, and share experience in Party work, political affairs, health, joining United Nations peacekeeping missions, and combating crime.

Secondly, the two sides should improve the effectiveness of cooperation in economics and other fields, he said, suggesting that both countries continue efficiently implementing high-level agreements and common perceptions, focusing on expanding investment and trade scale and applying measures to reduce Việt Nam’s trade deficit.

Việt Nam and China should boost win-win partnership in areas of China’s strength and Việt Nam’s demand, including agriculture, environment, climate change response, science-technology and transportation, especially in seeking new rice varieties adapted to salinity condition in the Mekong Delta region, he said.

Trọng proposed that the two countries properly settle issues related to fishing vessels and fishermen; manage, protect and use water resources along their shared border in a sustainable manner, while working closely to prevent and cope with flooding, ensuring nuclear safety, and creating optimal conditions for road, rail and air transportation.

Thirdly, Việt Nam and China should maintain peace and stability and deal with problems at sea peacefully, he stated.

The Party leader also underscored the necessity of safeguarding lasting peace and stability to minimise risks of instability, and building trust in the settlement of East Sea issues between countries concerned, saying this will benefit all sides involved as well as the region and the world.

All parties should exercise restraint and make no moves to complicate the situation or expand disputes, while respecting the legitimate and legal rights of each other, and focusing efforts on maintaining peace and stability at sea to prioritise socio-economic development.

He proposed that Việt Nam and China fully and effectively implement the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), in parallel with soon conducting the practical negotiation for the building of an effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

The two countries should consider the application of suitable cooperation forms in some areas with real overlaps in line with international law, he said, adding that they should stick to carrying out the agreed roadmap, and utilise experience gained in sea delineation and cooperation in the Gulf of Tonkin to make progress in the delineation and collaboration in the waters off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin.

At the same time, they should consider the possibility and plans of cooperation among relevant parties as well as between ASEAN and China in some less sensitive areas with shared interest, including the management of fishing and protection of the marine ecology and environment, said Trọng.

For his part, Xi briefed his host on the major outcomes of the CPC’s 19th National Congress.

He declared that the Party and Government of China always pay great attention to unceasingly reinforcing and developing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with Viet Nam under the motto “Friendly neighbours, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability, looking toward the future” and in the spirit of “Good neighbors, good friends, good comrades, and good partners”.

He also referred to promoting the efficiency of cooperative mechanisms on trade, infrastructure, and monetary-finance, and connecting development strategies of the “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework and “Belt and Road” initiative to grow the countries’ economic-trade ties in a balanced and sustainable manner towards the US$100 billion goal in 2017.

He also suggested the two sides support and facilitate cooperation between localities and border areas of the two countries, increase people-to-people exchange, and ratchet up affiliations in social security to improve people’s lives.

He vowed that China will continue providing non-refundable aid worth 600 million CNY in three years to improve social security in Việt Nam’s northern localities.

China will spare no effort to soundly manage conflicts at sea to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea, Xi stressed, affirming that China wants to work with ASEAN to implement comprehensively and efficiently the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and negotiate and build the Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC).

He also suggested the two sides boost coordination at multilateral mechanisms like the United Nations, APEC, China-ASEAN, and Lancang-Mekong, contributing to maintaining peace, prosperity and development in the region and the world at large.

19 deals secured

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Nguyen Phú Trọng and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of 12 cooperation pacts and the exchange of seven other documents in Hà Nội on November 12.

The cooperation pacts consist notably of memorandums of understanding between the two sides on promoting the ‘Two Corridors, One Belt’ framework, agreement on cross-border trade, co-operation on e-commerce, development of traditional medical centres in Việt Nam, key projects in trade development planning for 2017-2021, and border patrol.

Meanwhile, the seven documents exchanged dealt with personnel training between the provincial party central committees of Việt Nam’s northern border provinces and the Party Committee of China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; social scientific exchanges; cooperation in legal framework for the management of nuclear safety between the Việt Nam Agency For Radiation and Nuclear Safety and China’s National Nuclear Safety Administration; cooperation for 2017 – 2022 between the Vietnam National Political Publishing House; and investment in the construction of a tyre manufacturing factory.— VNS