A ceremonial welcome for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his entourage took place at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on April 7, hosted by Chinese Party General Secretary and State President Xi Jinping. 

Welcomed with the highest reception rituals for the Head of State, the Vietnamese Party leader joined his host on the pavilion and addressed the guards of honour. 

Following the ceremony, both leaders held talks, discussing issues regarding the two Parties and countries.

Xi said in full confidence that the visit will be a milestone, contributing to fostering bilateral trust and friendship and bringing cooperation between the two Parties and countries to the next level. 

The Party and government of China treasure the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with Vietnam, he said. 

The Vietnamese Party chief assured his host that the stable and sustainable development of friendly cooperation with China is the consistent and long-term advocacy and top priority in Vietnam’s foreign policy. 

Reflecting on the 65-year history of the bilateral diplomatic ties, the two leaders shared the view that friendly and positive cooperation remain the mainline of their relationship. 

Since the normalisation of ties, Vietnam and China have set a vision to push ties between the two Parties and countries forward in the spirit of “good neighbours, good friends, good comrades and good partnerships”, and under the motto “friendly neighbours, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability and future vision”. 

They also admitted that the two countries’ ties had experienced obstacles in a period of time, pointing to not high political trust, triggered by differences dealing with the East Sea issue, negatively affecting sentiments of their officials, Party members and society. 

In the context of complicated regional and international situations, to seize opportunities and efficiently cope with challenges, the two Parties and countries need to enhance friendly cooperation, settle properly their differences, and together create the peaceful and stable environment for national development for the sake of their people as well as the regional and international communities, they said. 

In the spirit of openness and sincerity, the two General Secretaries reached consensus on several important orientations to strengthen trust and elevate the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in a result-oriented, healthy, stable and sustainable fashion, including facilitating visits by Party and State leaders and fully upholding existing mechanisms to deal with emerging issues. 

They agreed to intensify directions to fully realise previous commitments and common perceptions; boost all-level exchanges and cooperation; continue effectively cooperative mechanisms between the two Parties and increase experience sharing in Party building, anti-corruption, political and ideological education, socio-economic development and the building of the State of the rule of law. 

Both host and guest consented to expand their friendship through National Assembly and Vietnam Fatherland Front channels as well as fully uphold the role of the Vietnam-China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in monitoring joint efforts as stipulated in the Action Plan on realising the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and signed agreements to promptly deal with arising issues. 

Enhanced diplomatic, national defence and security engagements alongside joint economic and trade activities will build a solid foundation for their relations, they noted. 

Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong said Vietnam welcomes Chinese investment inflows, particularly in infrastructure projects and the engineering and support industry using Chinese technological advancements. 

He asked China to choose capable and financially strong contractors to ensure their projects in Vietnam meet deadlines and quality regulations. 

The Chinese side agreed to encourage domestic firms to import competitive Vietnamese goods while actively working to amend the agreement on Vietnam-China border trade. 

Vietnam and China will also design planning for cross-border economic development and step up the pace of projects on infrastructure connectivity, agriculture, engineering, services, science-technology, medicine and quarantines. 

Xi promised to support Chinese and Vietnamese investors seeking to expand their business in each country, adding that China wants to import more Vietnamese goods rather than seek a trade surplus. 

They declared the establishment of Working Groups on Infrastructure and Currency Cooperation while promoting activities of working groups on overland and sea cooperation.

Both sides also agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in education, culture, information, sports, tourism and the environment while stepping up people-to-people exchange, especially among the youth, patriots and academics.

Local exchanges and cooperation, especially among border localities, will be enhanced and more attention will be given to the popularisation and education of the traditional solidarity and friendship between the two Parties, countries and people to foster and cement their social foundation, they noted. 

Regarding sea issues, the two sides underscored the need to abide by important perceptions reached by senior leaders of the two Parties and the two countries and stringently implement the “Agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues between Vietnam and China”.

They stressed the sound employment of the Governmental negotiation mechanism for Vietnam-China borders and territory and continual friendly negotiations to seek fundamental and long-term solutions acceptable to both sides.

Additional efforts are needed to study transitional measures without affecting each side’s stance and policy, including working together to explore and discuss the issue of cooperation for mutual development, the leaders said.

Both sides should manage disputes at sea together while fully and efficiently expediting the “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea” (DOC) and working towards a “Code of Conduct in the East Sea” (COC) to be reached soon through negotiations. The leaders also agreed on avoiding actions that could complicate and enlarge disputes and promptly employing measures to solve issues appropriately to maintain Vietnam-China relations and peace and stability in the East Sea. 

They pointed to the design of the COC as crucial to addressing issues at sea. China has been working with ASEAN in regard to the issue. 

The two sides agreed to step up the operation of a working group on cooperation for mutual development at sea, reinforce connections in less sensitive fields, accelerate talks on the delineation of areas off the Tonkin gulf, promote cooperation for mutual development in this waters, and quickly launch a joint survey in the waters off the Tonkin Gulf in 2015. 

The Vietnamese side welcomed and will work to study its participation in regional connectivity initiatives proposed by China on the basis of mutual respect, equality and benefits.

The two Party chiefs agreed to direct the popularisation and implementation work across sectors, branches, officials and Party members to reach a consensus in awareness and action in line with the spirit “words go well with deeds” to contribute to bolstering the political trust and friendship between the two countries and elevate the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in a healthy, stable, sustainable and in-depth manner. 

During the talks, the two Party leaders discussed regional and international issues of shared concern. 

On behalf of the Vietnamese Party and State, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong invited Party General Secretary and State President Xi Jinping to pay an official visit to Vietnam. Xi happily accepted the invitation.

Later that day, the two Party chiefs and other senior officials witnessed the signing of cooperative documents between the two Parties, Government, ministries and agencies.

They included a cooperation plan between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Communist Party of China; an extradition agreement between Vietnam and China; a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in United Nations peacekeeping between the Vietnamese and Chinese Defence Ministries; a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a working group on land infrastructure between the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission; reference terms of the working group on financial and monetary cooperation between the State Bank of Vietnam and the People’s Bank of China; an agreement on taxation for a joint oil and gas exploration project in the Tonkin Gulf between the two Finance Ministries; and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in making thematic TV films.

Earlier, the leaders toured a showcase featuring photos and materials of ten theoretical workshops held by the two Parties.

During theoretical workshops held between 2003 and 2014, the two Parties discussed and shared their practical experience in a wide range of issues, including socialism, market economies, the building of the ruling party and the development of agriculture, rural areas and culture.

Vietnamese, Chinese leaders meet young people

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Chinese Party General Secretary and State President Xi Jinping met Vietnamese and Chinese youngsters during the 15 th friendly gathering in Beijing on April 7.

In his speech, the Vietnamese Party chief called for facilitating friendship exchanges and result-oriented cooperation for enhanced mutual understanding.

He wished that each of the youngsters will make due contributions to their respective countries and the mutual friendship, which was fostered by late Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zhedong and generations of ex-revolutionaries and leaders.

The Vietnam – China friendship is precious asset that needs to be valued and preserved, he said.

For his part, the Party General Secretary and State President expressed his hope that young generations of the two countries would inherit the traditional friendship and carry it forward.

Both sides should continue increasing people-to-people exchanges and neighborly friendship so that the Vietnam – China amity will be passed down from generations to generations, he said.

On the evening the same day, Party General Secretary and State President Xi hosted a banquet in honour of the Vietnamese Party leader.

VNA