Vietnam-China Increasingly Effective, Substantive, Profound and Comprehensive Relations

At the invitation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang paid an official visit to Vietnam from October 12 to 14, 2024.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (right) and Chinese Premier Li Qiang 

During the visit, Premier Li met with Party General Secretary and President To Lam and Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man. In a sincere and friendly atmosphere, the two sides held in-depth discussions and reached broad common perceptions on promoting the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and the building of the Vietnam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern.

At their meetings and talks, Vietnamese leaders warmly welcomed Premier Li Qiang on his official visit to Vietnam. This marks the first visit to Vietnam by the Premier of the State Council of China in 11 years, and it is also Mr. Li Qiang's first visit to Vietnam in his capacity as Premier. Both sides expressed optimism that this successful visit will positively influence central agencies and localities in both countries, reinforcing their commitment to implement high-level agreements. The aim is to enhance bilateral relations, making them more effective, substantive, profound and comprehensive, thereby contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and beyond.

The two sides agreed to fully implement the key common perceptions reached by the top leaders of the two Parties and countries, as well as previous joint statements; persistently adhere to the motto of “friendly neighborliness, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability, and looking towards the future,” the spirit of being “good neighbors, good friends, good comrades, and good partners,” and “six major goals”, comprising stronger political trust, more substantial cooperation in defense - security, deeper and more practical cooperation, more solid social foundation, closer multilateral coordination, and better management and settlement of differences in a bid to accelerate the building of the Vietnam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, achieving more substantive and comprehensive results, bringing tangible benefits to both peoples and nations, and making positive and effective contributions to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The two sides agreed to maintain high-level strategic exchanges, particularly between top Party and State leaders, to guide the development of Vietnam-China relations. The two countries agreed to enhance defense-security cooperation, one of the important pillars of bilateral relations. They consented to foster strategic development connectivity between the two countries, properly implement the cooperation plan on connecting the “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework with the “Belt and Road” initiative, and accelerate the connectivity of railway, expressway and border gate infrastructure. They reached an agreement to accelerate the construction of a road bridge spanning the Red River between Bat Xat in Vietnam and Ba Sa in China, aiming to deepen cooperation in road engineering and enhance "soft connectivity" through smart customs measures.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang witness the exchange of an MoU between the Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and China’s Ministry of Commerce 

The two sides committed to promoting and supporting reputable companies with advanced technologies to invest in each other’s markets. Their collaboration will focus on high-tech agriculture, infrastructure, clean energy, the digital economy and sustainable development. They aim to establish a fair and conducive business environment for enterprises from both countries.

Vietnam and China agreed to promote the role of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA); make good use of e-commerce platforms and exhibitions; strengthen customs cooperation and expand merchandise export to each other. They agreed to strengthen agricultural cooperation, promote cooperation in cultivation and agricultural processing, reinforce cooperation in meteorology and natural disaster prevention and mitigation, and exchange hydrological data during flooding seasons.

Over the past decade, trade between Vietnam and China has increased more than fourfold. China has emerged as Vietnam's largest import market, while Vietnam has become China's top trading partner in the ASEAN region.

In 2023, the two-way trade value between Vietnam and China reached approximately US$172 billion, with US$150 billion recorded in the first nine months of 2024, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 22%. If informal trade were included, the total would be much higher. China's investment in Vietnam has surged over sevenfold, positioning it as the sixth-largest among 148 investor countries and territories in Vietnam. Tourism cooperation has also rebounded strongly, with 2.7 million Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam in the first nine months of 2024, surpassing arrivals from the previous year.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang's visit to Vietnam is particularly significant to bilateral relations as the two countries look toward the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations (2025) and follows important visits by senior leaders of both sides. The visit of great significance continues to deepen the substantive and comprehensive bilateral relationship, thus meeting the aspirations and common interests of the two peoples, for peace, cooperation and development of the region and the world.    

By Anh Mai, Vietnam Business Forum