Vietnam and China on January 12 signed 15 cooperation agreements in various fields from economy, transportation and defence to health care, tourism and training, on the occasion of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s ongoing visit to China.

They include an agreement on training senior officials between the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and Communist Party of China (CPC), and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the CPV Central Committee’s Economic Commission and the Development Research Centre of the China’s State Council.

The two sides inked a document on technical assistance in making planning for the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway, a joint vision statement on defence cooperation between the two defence ministries to 2025, and a framework agreement on land border gate cooperation between the Vietnam’s Defence Ministry and the China General Administration of Customs.

Vietnam and China also reached documents on cooperation in technical trade barriers, and releasing aquatic varieties in the Tonkin Gulf.

Along with a tourism cooperation plan for the 2017-2019 period, the two countries signed cooperation documents between Vietnam’s National Politics – Truth Publishing House and the People’s Publishing House of China for 2017-2021, between the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and between Vietnam Red Cross Association and China Red Cross.

Besides, the two countries reached MoUs on television and radio programmes.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam and the China Development Bank also signed a MoU on project sponsoring and middle and long-term loans for the 2017-2019 period.

Earlier the same day, a 21-gun salute was accorded to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Beijing. The ceremony, the highest ritual for a head of state, was chaired by Chinese General Secretary and State President Xi Jinping.

VNA