President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (right) meet with visiting Chinese State Councillor and Minister of National Defence, Sen. Lt. Gen. Wei Fenghe on Monday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc met with visiting Chinese State Councillor and Minister of National Defence, Sen. Lt. Gen. Wei Fenghe, in Hà Nội on Monday.

Welcoming Wei and the high-ranking military delegation from China, President Phúc expressed his belief that the official visit will positively contribute to the two countries’ relations.

He highly valued the outcome of the talks between the Vietnamese and Chinese ministers of national defence, noting that the successful cooperation between the two armies will further promote the sound traditional friendship between the two Parties and the two countries, including between their defence ministries, for the sake of the two peoples and for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in each nation, along with the region and the world as a whole.

Minister Wei said his delegation’s trip to Việt Nam reflects the importance that the Chinese Party and State attach to the relations with Việt Nam, and it also aims to strengthen the two armies’ multifaceted ties in an increasingly substantive manner.

Regarding the talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Sen. Lt. Gen. Phan Văn Giang, he said the two sides agreed on many cooperation aspects to help foster the friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between the countries.

The official emphasised that China and Việt Nam share many similarities, and many achievements have been recorded in bilateral relations, including the ties between the defence ministries.

China and Việt Nam boast special and time-tested relations which need to be further treasured and brought into play in the future, he said, voicing his belief that Việt Nam will harvest even greater successes in socio-economic development.

President Phúc congratulated China on its socio-economic achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

He said that the two countries’ Party and State leaders have maintained exchanges and achieved important perceptions.

Việt Nam attaches importance to developing its comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China in a healthy, stable, sustainable and long-term manner and for win-win cooperation, he stated, adding that Việt Nam backs China’s development and more active and substantial contributions to peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese State leader acknowledged and appreciated the development of relations between the two countries’ ministries, sectors and localities, thus bringing about benefits to each side, especially provinces along the shared border.

He welcomes the comprehensive development of the bilateral defence cooperation, which has contributed to the Việt Nam-China relations, citing as an example the successful organisation of defence dialogue activities most recently.

President Phúc stressed that amid complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, both nations have well-controlled the pandemic and facilitated two-way trade, helping it reach a record high of 133 billion USD in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 14 per cent.

He suggested more measures to boost trade growth in the future.

He also expressed his hope that the two armies will continue building strategic trust, working together to make defence cooperation a pillar of the bilateral relations.

It is necessary to intensify collaboration between the armies’ political agencies and step up communication work on bilateral friendships and traditions to prevent hostile forces from undermining the ties.

The Vietnamese leader spoke highly of the two Defence Ministries’ determination to create a peaceful atmosphere between the two countries and in the East Sea in particular. He affirmed the substantial cooperation and the maintenance of a peaceful environment on the sea are favourable conditions for authorised agencies to conduct dialogues and handle existing issues, especially those related to the sea. — VNS