Top leader’s visit marks new milestone in Vietnam - China friendly neighbourliness

This is a particularly important diplomatic event between Vietnam and China in 2024, with a significant impact on the long-term development trend of the relationship between the two Parties and countries.

The visit, Lam's first foreign trip since his election as the General Secretary of the 13th CPV Central Committee, included 18 key activities.

During the talks with Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, Lam emphasised his desire to work with his Chinese counterpart and other Chinese high-ranking leaders to inherit and uphold the long-standing tradition of friendship between the two Parties and countries, guiding the Vietnam-China relationship into a new phase of increasingly stable and sustainable development.

Xi strongly affirmed that China maintains its persistent policy of friendship with Vietnam, and always takes Vietnam as a priority and strategic choice in its neighbourhood diplomacy.

A highlight of the visit was a tour of Guangzhou in Guangdong province marking the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s arrival in Guangzhou as an international advisor to the Communist International. From 1924 to 1927, President Ho Chi Minh and Chinese revolutionaries established a close friendship that was later described as “comrades-cum-brothers” friendship.

This activity provided an opportunity for both sides to reminisce about the traditional friendship, solidarity, and mutual support between the two Parties, countries, and their peoples, laying a stronger social foundation for the bilateral relationship, according to Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and head of its Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung.

Looking ahead to 2025 when the two countries will celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the leaders decided to designate 2025 as the "Year of Vietnam-China Humanistic Exchange" to raise public awareness of the traditional bilateral friendship.

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency in Beijing, Director of the Institute for Vietnam Studies at the Zhengzhou University Prof. Yu Xiangdong said that Lam’s visit is a strategic choice based on the stable development of the bilateral relations, demonstrating Vietnam's consistent stance and "bamboo diplomacy" policy, benefiting the noble cause of modernisation that the CPV is constantly promoting and in conformity with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples, and being useful to maintaining and protecting peace, stability, development, and prosperity of the region and the world over.

He stressed that the visit has symbolic significance, demonstrating the desire to continue the political legacy left by late Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong - who laid the foundation for the strategic and especially important relationship between Vietnam and China.

More than 30 years after the normalisation, especially more than 15 years since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership framework in 2008, Vietnam-China relations have witnessed rapid strides and comprehensive progress in all fields.

Following the historic official visit to China by General Secretary Trong in October 2022 and the third state visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President Xi in December last year, the two sides agreed to further deepen and elevate the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and build a Vietnam – China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, thus opening a new chapter in the bilateral relations.

So far this year, the relationship between the two countries has maintained a positive development trend, with a strong atmosphere of cooperation spreading across levels, sectors, and among the general public. The bilateral relationship is said to be at its most profound, comprehensive, and substantive level ever, with increasing growth in economic, trade, and investment cooperation.

On the occasion of the Vietnamese top leader’s visit, the two countries issued a joint statement on further strengthening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and building a Vietnam-China community with a shared future.

High-ranking leaders of the two Parties and countries devoted much attention and time to discussing cooperation orientations in various fields, agreeing to strengthen cooperation in strategic areas such as diplomacy, defence, and public security; expand cooperation connecting the "Two Corridors, One Belt" Framework with the "Belt and Road" Initiative; accelerate "hard connectivity" in terms of railways, expressways and border gate infrastructure; and upgrade "soft connectivity" in smart customs.

China agreed to provide non-refundable assistance for Vietnam to develop the planning of northern railway routes connecting Vietnam with China, hasten the pilot construction of smart border gates, implement the pilot construction of cross-border economic cooperation zones, jointly build safe and stable production and supply chains, and support Chinese enterprises with capacity, reputation, and advanced technology to invest in Vietnam.

Ministries, sectors, and localities of the two countries signed documents on cooperation in Party school, connectivity, industry, finance, customs plant quarantine, health care, press and broadcasting, and locality cooperation. The signed documents vividly reflect the two sides' determination to promote deeper substantive cooperation.

The visit is an important activity implementing Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralism, and persification, which includes a policy of considering relations with China a top priority.

The high-level agreements and specific results achieved during the visit will continue to contribute to consolidating the favourable foreign situation, creating a peaceful and stable environment, offering more favourable conditions for pushing socio-economic development, elevating the country's position and prestige, and successfully implementing the targets set by the 13th National Party Congress./.