A view of Beijing’s CBD area on August 19, 2022. (Photo/VCG)
To Lam, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of Vietnam, will pay a state visit to China from August 18 to 20, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
The fact that he chose China as the destination of his first foreign visit since being elected Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam on August 3, following the death of his predecessor Nguyen Phu Trong last month, underlines the great strategic importance that Vietnam and the Communist Party attach to further deepening Sino-Vietnamese relations.
According to the itinerary of his visit released by the Foreign Ministry, Lam’s meeting with President Xi Jinping as well as other Chinese leaders, including the premier and heads of China’s top legislative and political advisory body, as well as senior officials from various relevant sectors, reflects the shared desire of both sides not only to enhance the traditional friendship between the two countries, but also to continue their joint efforts to translate the achievements of Xi’s visit to Vietnam late last year into action and results.
Lam’s visit should be a good start for both sides to further pool their efforts to accelerate the building of a community with a shared future.
While some external parties are trying to turn the Asia-Pacific into an arena for their geopolitical games by taking advantage of the maritime disputes in the region, the two neighbors are familiar with their tricks. Both sides are actively exploring and implementing more maritime cooperation projects, striving to promote the common development of the blue economy, and turning the challenges brought by the maritime issues into opportunities for both sides to deepen their cooperation.
China does not form exclusive small cliques, does not pursue group politics, nor does it seek camp confrontation. It is willing to strengthen multilateral cooperation with Vietnam in various multilateral frameworks, uphold true multilateralism, and enhance the voice and influence of developing countries in international affairs.
In addition, as emerging economies, China and Vietnam have great scope to strengthen their mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic, trade, technological and industrial fields and to translate the complementarity of their economies and development levels into concrete benefits for both peoples.
Both sides should take more concrete measures to jointly implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, protect the global free trade system, and maintain the stability of their industries and supply chains. To this end, China will continue to encourage strong Chinese companies to invest and set up businesses in Vietnam. It is hoped that Vietnam will in turn provide a good business environment for these Chinese companies.
