Mong Cai is the northeastern-most city of Quang Ninh province, with the geographical advantage of "bordering the sea, adjacent to the border", and convenient access to the sea. Mong Cai has a strategic geo-economic and geopolitical position for both Quang Ninh province and the whole country, and is one of the direct and important bridges in promoting cooperation with ASEAN and Northeast Asia.

In the first ten months of 2023, the total import and export value through border gates in Quang Ninh province reached 5.588 billion USD, ranking 2nd among the northern border provinces, only after Lang Son. Particularly, the import-export turnover at border gates in Mong Cai city alone hit 5.49 billion USD, accounting for 98.2% of Quang Ninh's total import-export turnover.

In recent years, with the permission of competent authorities, Mong Cai city has established and maintained alternating exchange activities with Chinese localities in various fields, including signing cooperation agreements; performing regularly exchange and promoting import and export activities; coordinating to resolve arising difficulties.

At the same time, the city has regularly organized unique cultural and sports exchange activities, such as friendly football tournaments, annual sports tournaments (tennis, golf, running...), duet singing festival on the border river between young people of the two countries of Vietnam-China, the Vietnam-China International Trade and Tourism Fair.

Mong Cai city has also maintained friendly exchange and cooperation activities of Party committees, state agencies, and socio-political organizations; Organized exchange and signing of cooperation agreements between "border resident clusters," communes, wards, villages between the city and Chinese localities; effectively implemented the agreement "joining hands to form friendship stations and together building a peaceful border".

The city government sets a goal that by 2025, Mong Cai City will achieve the per capita income of over 100 million VND/person/year; Complete the goal of people being able to use clean water through centralized water supply systems.

Mong Cai will become one of the key border tourist areas of tQuang Ninh province and the country, a "green, smart, friendly and safe tourist city"; develop tourism into a key economic sector with sustainable development, serving as a premise to promote the development of other economic sectors. By 2030, it will become a high-quality tourist area and a world-class entertainment center.

To achieve that goal, the city is developing the Mong Cai Border Gate economic zone into a national key border economic zone, a border gate economic center, a center of trade, industry, seaport, logistics, general services of Quang Ninh province and the Northern key economic region.

It will turn Tra Co National Tourist Area into a high-quality island tourist area, associated with commercial tourism products and border gates, attract projects to develop high-quality tourism products and services, develop import-export trade and logistics activities in the area. People will have a prosperous, peaceful and happy life.

Along with Ha Long and Van Don, Mong Cai City will become a key center for developing high-quality tourism products and services; will put Wharf 1 of Van Ninh Port into operation in 2024.

The city also has a specific plan to realize the goal of turning Quang Ninh into a key Vietnamese tourism market of Guangxi (China) and building a model of Vietnam-China border tourism cooperation between Quang Ninh and Guangxi.

Mong Cai city will closely and effectively combine socio-economic development with the construction of its border areas that is rich, strong, civilized, peaceful, friendly, stable, cooperative and develops together. Along with that, it will continue to perform well the task of maintaining sovereignty and national border security in the area; fiercely fight against crime and commercial fraud; build an orderly, disciplined, secure, safe and civilized society.