Chinese Ambassador to Việt Nam Xiong Bo. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The success of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) will be a strong political guarantee for the development of socialism in Việt Nam and provide a new driving force for the country’s socio-economic development, said Chinese Ambassador to Việt Nam Xiong Bo.

In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency ahead of the Congress, he said "the CPV, founded by President Hồ Chí Minh, is the genuine representative of the fundamental interests of the Vietnamese people". Over the 91 years since its establishment, the CPV had led the Vietnamese people forwards and made historic contributions to national independence, liberation, development and the people’s happiness.

"The 13th National Party Congress is a significant political event of the CPV and Viet Nam," the ambassador said, expecting that it will elect an unyielding and strong Party Central Committee for the new tenure that will win the people’s wholehearted support and trust to continue leading the country’s socialism building to even greater success.

According to Xiong Bo, the international community, including China, pays special attention to the CPV’s 13th National Congress. China’s Party General Secretary and State President Xi Jinping, during phone talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyễn Phú Trọng last September, said the Communist Party of China supports the CPV's efforts to successfully organise the event and is ready to continue assisting Việt Nam in socialism building.

The diplomat went on to say that since the 12th National Party Congress, under the steadfast leadership of the CPV Central Committee, headed by General Secretary Trọng, the Vietnamese Party and Government had stepped up Party building, corruption combat, reforms, and development.

Since 2020, facing the serious impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CPV Central Committee had maintained its strategic persistence and solidarity to lead the Party, army, and people to weather difficulties and realise the twin targets of fighting the pandemic and sustaining socio-economic development, with growth of 2.9 per cent - one of the world’s fastest growth rates last year.

Ambassador Xiong Bo also noted that as Chair of ASEAN and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2020, Việt Nam successfully held meetings within the East Asia co-operation framework, advocated multilateralism and free trade, promoted regional anti-pandemic co-operation, and improved its influence in the region and the world.

In particular, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), signed last year, was the largest free trade agreement in the world, he noted, describing this as a success of multilateralism and free trade that would fuel growth momentum for the regional and global economy.

The development achievements Việt Nam has obtained, especially the successful response to COVID-19, are all attributable to the CPV Central Committee’s steadfast leadership and the people’s support, like in China. This shows the unique advantages of the socialist regimes in the two countries, according to the ambassador.

In the interview, the ambassador said Party General Secretary Trọng had been “extremely clear-sighted and sober” in the current context. He quoted the Vietnamese Party leader as saying that the 13th National Party Congress takes place amid a fast-changing and complex world, the Party is still facing difficulties and challenges, and that firmly maintaining the Party’s revolutionary and trailblazing nature and building an increasingly clean and strong Party are key for development.

“We expect that under the leadership of the new Central Committee, the CPV will continue to maintain and enhance its leadership role, actively seek ways to build and develop socialism in the new historical context, and make new theoretical and practical contributions, based on the goals to be set at the 13th National Congress, to attain greater progress in Việt Nam’s socialism building efforts,” the Chinese ambassador said.

He said 2021 would be the first year of the 13th-tenure CPV Central Committee and also the first year China begins a new stage of enhanced comprehensive national construction and modernisation.

He went on to say that in the new context, the two parties and countries should strengthen solidarity and co-operation, adding that China is ready to join Việt Nam in realising the important common perceptions shared between the two parties and countries’ leaders, increasing high-level strategic exchange and experience sharing, boosting connecting development strategies, and expanding result-oriented co-operation in all fields to reach a new height in both countries’ socialism building and bilateral relations. VNS