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Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang

Hang was speaking at a press briefing in Hanoi on August 22, highlighting the results of the freshly concluded state visit to China by Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President To Lam.

She said the two sides agreed to comply with high-level common perceptions and agreements on basic principles guiding the settlement of maritime issues, as well as international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in order to jointly maintain peace and stability in the East Sea and the region.

The two sides also agreed to continue to work closely to effectively implement legal documents on land border and related agreements.

During his stay in Beijing, Party chief and President To Lam held talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, and met other Chinese leaders, including Premier Li Qiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji, and chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Wang Huning.   

According to the spokesperson, during talks and meetings the top leaders of the two countries emphasized the importance of strengthening the Vietnam – China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, considering this a priority and strategic choice.

The two sides agreed to realize the goal of building the Vietnam – China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance based on six agreed orientations that are higher political trust, more substantive security and defense cooperation, deeper substantive cooperation, a stronger social foundation, closer multilateral coordination, and better control and resolution of disagreements.

They underscored the need to strengthen cooperation in strategic fields such as diplomacy, defense and security, facilitate trade exchanges, expand cooperation, and connect the “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework with the “Belt and Road” initiative.

The two sides agreed to encourage and support businesses with real capacity, reputation, and advanced technology to invest in the other country, and expand cooperation in new fields such as digital economy, circular economy, green development, clean energy and renewable energy.

Among other things, the two sides decided to declare 2025 the year of people-to-people exchanges between Vietnam and China and jointly organize a series of activities to mark 75 years of their diplomacy.

Notably, ministries, agencies and localities of the two countries signed 16 cooperation documents in various fields during the visit.

VOV