Vietnam and China promote Customs cooperation

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Chinese Premier Li Qiang witnessed the handover of the Action Plan between the GDVC and the GACC on the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Authorized Economic Operator of Vietnam Customs and the Enterprise Credit Management Program of China Customs. Photo: Viet Nga

On October 13, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Chinese Premier Li Qiang led the high-ranking leaders of the two countries to hold the talks.

After the talks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Chinese Premier Li Qiang witnessed the handover ceremony of cooperation documents between the two countries.

In the presence of the two Prime Ministers, in addition to the nine documents handed over by the leaders of ministries and government agencies, Director General of Vietnam Customs Nguyen Van Tho and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Vietnam Ha Wei handed over the Action Plan between the GDVC and the GACC on the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Authorized Economic Operator of Vietnam Customs and the Enterprise Credit Management Program of China Customs.

The Action Plan shows the goodwill of the two sides in moving towards signing the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Authorized Economic Operator.

Accordingly, the Action Plan includes two phases. In phase 1, the two sides will study each other's Authorized Economic Operator programs. In phase 2, the two sides will refer to legal regulations and conduct a general assessment.

The plan is a sectoral agreement, neither raise rights or obligations of the signatories nor be legally binding.

The trade results between the two countries shows that China has consistently been Vietnam's largest trading partner and the second largest export market.

Additionally, Vietnam is China's largest trading partner in ASEAN and the fifth largest trading partner in the world.

Director General of Vietnam Customs Nguyen Van Tho and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Vietnam Ha Wei handed over the Action Plan between the GDVC and the GACC on the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Authorized Economic Operator of Vietnam Customs and the Enterprise Credit Management Program of China Customs under the witness of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Photo: Viet Nga

Statistics reports that the total trade turnover between the two countries in 2023 reached US$171.9 billion and increased by 25% year-on-year to US$130.78 billion in the first 8 months of 2024 alone.

In 2023, China invested 707 projects worth US$4.47 billion in 2023. Currently, China is the 4th largest investor in Vietnam in terms of pledged capital and the largest in terms of number of projects.

As of August 2024, China invested US$29 billion in more than 4,800 projects in Vietnam, ranking 6th out of 148 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

The positive figures show that Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit aims to continue implementing the common understanding of the top leaders of the two Parties and countries.

During the visit, the exchange of specific measures to promote the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and the Vietnam-China Community with a Shared Future will enter a new stage of development and achieve more substantial results.