Vietnamese and Chinese officials discuss transport collaboration during a recent meeting in China. — Photo courtesy of Việt Nam Government Portal

BEIJING — Việt Nam and China have discussed measures to bolster transport collaboration, particularly in railway development, at a recent meeting between Minister of Construction Trần Hồng Minh and Chinese Minister of Transport Liu Wei, as part of the former’s working trip to China from March 24 to 26.

At the event, Minh underscored the Vietnamese Party and Government’s political determination to bring into full play the common perceptions on cross-border railway connectivity and cooperation between the two countries.

From late 2023 to December 2024, the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction or MoC), China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) signed six cooperation documents to advance the construction of railways.

Additional documents have been planned, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the MoC and the NDRC on establishing a Việt Nam–China railway cooperation committee and several documents on plans for such railway routes as Đồng Đăng–Hà Nội, Móng Cái–Hạ Long–Hải Phòng and Lào Cai–Hà Nội–Hải Phòng.

Việt Nam is striving to break ground on the Lào Cai–Hà Nội–Hải Phòng project by the end of this year, Minh said, adding that the Vietnamese National Assembly approved 18 special mechanisms and policies to carry out the project. — VNS