The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in more than 150 countries and international organizations worldwide.

The initiative aims to strengthen trade routes connecting China with Europe, the Middle East and Africa. According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by the end of 2022, China had signed 206 cooperation agreements on BRI with 151 countries and 32 international organizations, implementing about 3,000 projects in various fields with a total investment capital of nearly US$1 trillion.

Vietnam and China signed a memorandum of understanding on promoting connection between the Two Corridors, One Belt framework and the Belt and Road Initiative during Chinese President Xi’s visit to Vietnam for the 25th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in November 2017.

Both countries have maintained a fine relationship, yielding good results, especially following Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to China late last year.

Two-way trade turnover between the two countries last year reached more than US$175 billion, representing an increase of 5.47% year on year. Vietnam was China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and China’s fourth largest trading partner globally, after the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

In the first nine months of this year, China poured nearly US$2.1 billion into 478 projects in Vietnam, making it the second largest FDI investor in the Southeast Asian nation, after Singapore.

Currently China is the sixth largest foreign investor in Vietnam with over 4,000 valid projects valued at more than US$26 billion.

Source: VOV