Chairwoman of Việt Nam National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân yesterday had talks with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China Li Zhanshu in Beijing. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

BEIJING — National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân stressed the Vietnamese Communist Party, State and people always cherish and seek to foster the traditional relationship with China.

The country’s top legislator made the remark yesterday during a visit to China and had talks with her counterpart, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China Li Zhanshu, in Beijing.

NA Chairwoman Ngân congratulated the remarkable achievements the Chinese Communist Party, State and people have made, while stressing the positive results of the growing economic and investment cooperation between the two countries.

She urged for more “practical cooperation” in fields from commerce to tourism and transport projects, as well as committed measures to facilitate import and exports.

Ngân said Việt Nam is willing to create favourable conditions for Chinese firms to carry out environmentally-friendly, hi-tech projects that represent the best of Chinese science and technology development in Việt Nam.

She urged the two countries’ parliaments to boost their respective governments’ cooperation on the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and “Two corridors, one economic belt” project, and to ensure that ongoing projects will be carried out in a timely manner and all arising issues will be quickly resolved.

Ngân also expects the two sides to do more in terms of border management and environment protection, especially in the Mekong area.

She told her Chinese counterpart Việt Nam is in favour of fair and free trade.

On the occasion, Ngân thanked China for backing Việt Nam’s campaign and election to the non-permanent seat on the United Nations’ Security Council for the 2020-21 term.

The Chinese top legislator, Li Zhanshu, said he appreciated the healthy development of bilateral relations between China and Việt Nam, with high consensus reached between the two countries’ highest leadership.

He agreed with NA Chairwoman Ngân’s suggestions on measures to strengthen the two countries’ ties.

He said the Chinese Government will urge firms to invest in Việt Nam, especially in hi-tech industries and agriculture.

Li Zhanshu also pledged China’s commitments to ease the import of Vietnamese agricultural products into China.

The two officials also concurred to the observation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and promotion of negotiations towards building an effective Code of Conduct in line with international law.

Ngân and Li also agreed to step up delegation exchanges and talks to share experience on supervision activities and law-making practices between the two countries’ assemblies.

With Việt Nam’s incoming chairmanship of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in 2020, Chairwoman Ngân wished that China, an important partner of ASEAN, would support Việt Nam, contributing to regional peace and order and mutual development.

Technology investment

Earlier yesterday, the Vietnamese NA Chairwoman received leaders of several major Chinese technology and telecoms corporations in Beijing, during which she underlined Việt Nam’s policy of attracting foreign investors in digital technology.

Talking to Li Zixue, Chairman of Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Corporation, and Zhang Zixin, a leading official from Datatang Technology Co, Ngân said Việt Nam is actively building e-National Assembly and e-Government in an effort to build a facilitating and transparent government.

She suggested the corporations cooperate more closely with Vietnamese partners, especially in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Reiterating the Vietnamese telecoms market’s potential, she advised enterprises to carry out market research to grasp investment opportunities in the country.

The same day, the top legislator visited the Vietnamese Embassy in Beijing, where she confirmed the Party and State always pays attention to the Vietnamese community abroad, including those living in China.

Ngân voiced her hopes that members of the Vietnamese community will continue supporting each other and respecting the host country’s law.

China is now Việt Nam’s biggest trade partner, and the latter is the former’s largest in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Ngân said, adding that this is an advantage in the two countries’ relations. — VNS