The first meeting of the people’s procuracies of Vietnam-China border provinces opened on September 17 in Nanning, the capital city of China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The leaders of the Vietnamese and Chinese supreme procuracies exchange the signed MoU on strengthening direct cooperation between the border provinces’ procuracies

The event was attended by Peng Qinghua, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the regional People’s Congress, along with officials from the People’s Procuracies of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang city and seven other Vietnamese provinces bordering China, namely Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lang Son, and Quang Ninh.

In his opening remarks, Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China Cao Jianming noted that China and Vietnam boast the long-standing friendship and relations between the two supreme people’s procuracies have been strengthened through mutual visits, exchanges and experience sharing.

In April, the heads of the two supreme people’s procuracies signed a comprehensive memorandum of understanding (MoU) on mutual judicial assistance in criminal matters, removing obstacles in the field and facilitating the implementation of the treaty on mutual judicial assistance in civil and criminal matters, inked between China and Vietnam in 1988, and the supreme procuracies’ cooperation agreement signed in 2012, he said.

The MoU was also a foundation to improve cooperation between the procuracies of Vietnamese and Chinese border provinces, Cao added.

Prosecutor-General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam Le Minh Tri said procuracy-to-procuracy relations have continually been growing and achieved numerous positive outcomes.

Under the direction of the supreme procuracies, local procuracies, especially those of the border provinces, have carried out a number of cooperation activities. Six provincial procuracies of Vietnam have signed MoUs with four Chinese counterparts, including the MoUs between Cao Bang, Lang Son and Quang Ninh provinces and Guangxi, between Lao Cai province and Yunnan, between HCM City and Guangdong, and between Da Nang city and Shandong.

The cooperation has also been expanded to the district level such as between the procuracy of Lao Cai province and the procuracy of Yunnan’s Hekou county, Tri said, adding that the two sides have organised mutual visits, shared experience, held regular meetings on cooperation in crime prevention and control, and cooperation in personnel training.

The Vietnamese official asked the two supreme people’s procuracies to well implement the signed agreements and continue instructing local procuracies to seriously and effectively carry out the MoU signed last April and the other on enhanced direct cooperation between procuracies of Vietnam-China border provinces inked at this meeting.

The local procuracies of the border provinces also need to step up direct cooperation in mutual judicial assistance in criminal matters, he added.

At the meeting, the supreme procuracies’ leaders signed a MoU on strengthening direct cooperation between the border provinces’ procuracies.

On September 16, Chinese Procurator-General Cao Jianming hosted a reception for the delegation of the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam.

VNA