The visit to China of the National Assembly Chairman is of special importance.

At the invitation of Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Zhao Leji, Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue led a high-ranking delegation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to pay an official visit to the People's Republic of China from April 7-12, 2024.

This is the first high-level visit after the two countries upgraded their relations, the first visit of Comrade Vuong Dinh Hue to China in his capacity as Chairman of the National Assembly, and also the first direct meeting between the heads of the two countries' legislative bodies after the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

The visit took place in the context that in 2023, the two countries celebrated the 73rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (January 18, 1950 - January 18, 2023) and the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership (2008-2023); in particular, in December 2023, the two countries issued a Joint Statement on continuing to deepen and elevate the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and building a Vietnam-China Community of Shared Future of strategic significance.

The visit of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue is of special importance, not only for exchanges and cooperation between the two legislative bodies but also for high-level strategic exchanges between the two Parties and States of Vietnam and China.

During the visit, there will be talks, meetings and contacts between the Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly and key leaders of the Party, State and localities of China right after the second session of the Two Sessions in 2024.

The visit to China of the National Assembly Chairman is of special importance.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Chinese General Secretary and President Xi Jinping pose for a photo on December 13, 2023. (Photo: Doan Tan/VNA)

This will be an important occasion for the two sides to have in-depth strategic discussions on major issues in bilateral relations as well as international and regional situations of mutual concern, thereby further enhancing political trust, realizing the common perception between the top leaders of the two Parties and two countries, promoting cooperation in all fields, especially economics, trade, investment, tourism, and local cooperation in the context of slow recovery of the world economy and our growth still facing many difficulties.

Vietnam-China relations achieve many important results

Vietnam-China relations have maintained a good momentum of development and achieved many important results. High-level exchanges and contacts have taken place actively. Following the official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in 2022 (from October 30 to November 1, 2022) and in 2023, many delegations of our leaders visited China.

In response, from December 12-13, 2023, General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping and his wife paid a State visit to Vietnam. The two sides issued a “Joint Statement on Continuing to Deepen and Enhance the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and Building a Strategically Significant Vietnam-China Community of Shared Future,” signing 36 cooperation documents in many fields. Since the beginning of 2024, high-level and all-level exchanges and contacts have continued to take place vigorously and in flexible forms.

The most notable point in the above contacts was that both sides affirmed that they considered the other country a priority in their foreign policies. Vietnam considers developing relations with China a top priority and a strategic choice, always wishing to work with China to promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of bilateral relations, for the happiness of the people of both countries, for the cause of peace and progress of humanity.

The Chinese side emphasized its consistent policy of friendship with Vietnam, considering Vietnam a priority in neighborly diplomacy. China also affirmed its support for Vietnam to develop prosperously, make its people happy, build a strong, independent, and self-reliant economy, promote the cause of innovation, industrialization, modernization, and comprehensive international integration, develop open and friendly foreign relations, and play an increasingly important role for peace, stability, development, and prosperity in the region and the world.

From the beginning of 2024, high-level and all-level exchanges and contacts will continue to take place actively and in flexible forms.

The exchange and cooperation between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the National People's Congress of China has been maintained regularly and achieved many practical results in recent times. After the 13th Congress, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue had two online talks with Chairman of the 13th National People's Congress Li Zhanshu (June 17, 2021) and Chairman of the 14th National People's Congress Zhao Leji (March 27, 2023).

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue held an online meeting with Chairman of the Chinese National Assembly Zhao Leji. (Photo: Doan Tan/VNA)

Notably, the online meeting with the Chairman of the National Assembly was the first foreign activity of Comrade Trieu Lac Te immediately after being elected as Chairman of the National Assembly, demonstrating China's importance in strengthening the exchange and cooperation between the legislatures of the two countries. The cooperation agreement between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the National Assembly of China signed in 2015 during the official visit of Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung was generally implemented smoothly.

During this visit of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, the two sides are expected to sign a new Cooperation Agreement with many new and rich contents, demonstrating a closer and more substantive level of cooperation between the two legislative bodies.

Economic and trade cooperation is a bright spot

Economic, trade and investment cooperation has been continuously deepened and substantive, becoming a bright spot in the bilateral relationship in recent times. China has continuously maintained its position as Vietnam's largest trading partner and Vietnam's second largest export market; Vietnam is China's largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China's fifth largest trading partner in the world (after the US, Japan, South Korea and Russia).

In 2020, the total trade turnover between the two countries reached 133.09 billion USD; in 2021 it reached 165.9 billion USD; in 2022 it reached 175 billion USD; in 2023 it reached 171.9 billion USD according to Vietnam Customs data; in the first 2 months of 2024 it reached 27.3 billion USD.

This will be an important occasion for the two sides to have in-depth strategic discussions on major issues in bilateral relations as well as international and regional situations of mutual concern.

Vietnam and China have had many bilateral cooperation agreements, as well as multilateral agreements such as: ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP); in the coming period, China is promoting participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)... Besides, due to geographical proximity, the consumption habits of Chinese people have some similarities with Vietnamese people, the traditional trade relationship has existed for a long time, this creates a huge advantage in terms of Vietnam's export goods to this market.

Among them, Vietnam's agricultural exports to China are constantly expanding. China has become one of the most important markets for Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products. Vietnam's agricultural products, from fruits to processed foods, are gaining a foothold in the Chinese market. Currently, Vietnam has 14 agricultural products officially exported to China, including: bird's nest, sweet potato, dragon fruit, longan, rambutan, mango, jackfruit, watermelon, banana, mangosteen, black jelly, lychee, passion fruit and durian.

Trucks carrying fresh lychees wait to complete procedures at Kim Thanh International Road Border Gate No. II for export to China. (Photo: Quoc Khanh/VNA)

According to trade experts, since implementing its commitment in the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), China has reduced tariffs on more than 8,000 imported goods from Vietnam, including agricultural products and fresh fruits. This has opened up many opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to access a large market.

Regarding investment, as of March 2024, China's total registered foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in Vietnam was 27.64 billion USD with 4,418 valid projects, ranking 6th out of 145 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

In 2023 alone, China invested 4.47 billion USD in Vietnam, an increase of 77.5%, ranking 4th among all countries and territories, but leading in the number of new projects (accounting for 22.17%); in the first quarter of 2024, China led in the number of projects with new FDI capital invested in Vietnam (accounting for 27.8%). The two sides also actively coordinated to gradually remove and resolve outstanding problems in a number of previous economic cooperation projects.

Cooperation in culture, education, tourism, people-to-people exchange, especially exchanges between the young generations of Vietnam and China, has become increasingly substantive, helping to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two Parties, the two countries and the two peoples. To date, nearly 60 provinces and cities of Vietnam have established friendly cooperative relations with Chinese localities.

Regarding tourism, before the COVID-19 outbreak, China had been the leading country in the number of tourists to Vietnam for many years, with an average of 1 out of every 3 international visitors to Vietnam being Chinese. Currently, China has basically restored commercial flights to Vietnam; there are more than 200 flights between the two countries each week. China has also re-issued visas for Vietnamese students and workers returning to China. In 2023, there will be more than 1.7 million Chinese visitors to Vietnam; in the first 3 months of 2024, there will be nearly 890,000 visitors, an increase of 634.5% over the same period last year.

The two sides also organized many other exchange activities such as the Vietnam-China Border People's Festival, the Vietnam-China People's Forum, the Friendship Exchange between the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Chinese National People's Political Consultative Conference, cooperation between localities, especially provinces and border areas was enhanced with many diverse forms... These activities have contributed to consolidating a solid foundation of friendship for the Vietnam-China relationship to continue to develop healthily and stably./.