Chinese scholar highlights significance of President Xi Jinping's visit

Six years after his second visit, Chinese General Secretary and President Xi Jinping will soon visit Vietnam again on December 12-13. During the visit, General Secretary and President Xi Jinping will hold talks with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong, and meet with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a press conference on December 7. Many Chinese scholars assess that Mr. Xi's visit this time is an opportunity to further strengthen all-round connections between Vietnam and China, from politics to people-to-people exchanges, from economics, trade to digital transformation... "The visit will further promote comprehensive strategic cooperation between the two countries, while deepening the extensive, multi-layered and all-round cooperation between the two countries," Professor Vuong Can of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, School of International Relations, Xiamen University (China) told Dan Tri reporter.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong welcomed General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping during his visit in 2015 (Photo: Tien Tuan).

Continuing the tradition of high-level contact

General Secretary and President Xi Jinping visited Vietnam when the two countries reached an important milestone in the history of bilateral relations: the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership (2008-2023). According to Professor Wang, during this visit, the two sides are expected to mainly discuss new strategic orientations to strengthen Vietnam-China relations. "In the new international and geopolitical situation, enhancing the new strategic orientation in China-Vietnam relations is related to the medium- and long-term development of the two countries' relations," said Mr. Wang. Mr. Xi's visit is a continuation of the tradition of high-level visits and contacts in the nearly 75-year history of Vietnam-China relations. These contacts have contributed to the overall upward trend of bilateral relations. "Vietnam and China are 'inseparable neighbors' with extensive economic, social and cultural relations. The societies and people of both countries benefit from the stable diplomatic relations between the two sides," Professor Tra Dao Huynh from the School of International Studies, Institute of South-South Cooperation, Peking University, told Dan Tri reporter. Professor Tra said that the regular visits between Vietnamese and Chinese leaders not only affirm the exchanges between the societies and people of the two countries, but also provide a policy guarantee for the two countries to continue close interactions. Although there are still some disagreements between Vietnam and China, the two countries have affirmed that they will handle them properly on the basis of "understanding, mutual respect, and maintaining the situation of Vietnam-China relations", according to the 2022 joint statement. "In recent years, the Vietnamese and Chinese governments have found a way to get along with each other based on the motto of 'seeking common ground and preserving differences'", Professor Tra commented. "The cooperation for peace, stability and development of that region is a model for other countries to refer to."

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Xiong'an New Area in Hebei Province, China in June. Visits by high-ranking leaders of the two countries play an important role in Vietnam-China relations (Photo: Doan Bac).

Opportunities for enhanced economic cooperation

One of the figures showing the strong connection between Vietnam and China is the economic - trade - investment figures. China has been Vietnam's largest trading partner for many consecutive years, while Vietnam is China's largest partner in the ASEAN bloc, according to VNA . In the first 11 months of the year, Vietnam - China import and export turnover reached 155.58 billion USD, about 8 times the scale of more than 10 years ago, according to the Government Newspaper . Professor Vuong pointed out that the Chinese - Vietnamese economies are highly complementary and economic cooperation between the two countries has great potential. For example, Vietnam's processing and manufacturing industries, especially electronics, mobile phones, computers, textiles, machinery and equipment and other industries, have become hot investment spots for Chinese companies. "China has advantages in capital, technology and market, while Vietnam is a fast-growing emerging market with advantages in labor costs," said Mr. Vuong. In recent years, Vietnam has introduced a series of medium- and long-term national development strategies and policies, such as the National Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, the National Digital Transformation Program, the National Strategy on Green Growth, etc. "This has created a broad space for cooperation between China and Vietnam at many levels, in all aspects and in many fields," Professor Vuong commented.

Huu Nghi International Border Gate is the connecting point of the Nanning - Hanoi expressway, an important bridge in developing economic relations between Vietnam and China (Photo: Hai Nam - Nguyen Nam).

Many large Chinese corporations have shown increasing interest in Vietnam, such as Xiaomi starting to produce smartphones in Thai Nguyen, or BYD Group wanting to produce electric vehicles, etc. Strengthening the connection of transport infrastructure between the two countries is also a topic that has been mentioned frequently in recent discussions between officials and leaders of the two countries, especially railways. Professor Tra also believes that this is the right development direction because the importance of geo-economic factors in international exchanges has become more prominent in the context of increasingly complex international politics. "Building links in the fields of transport (including cross-border railways), energy, processing industry... especially between the northern provinces of Vietnam and southern China, will bring direct benefits in the context of the competitiveness of these two regions in the global economy is still relatively limited," said Professor Tra. Currently, the railway systems of the two countries are not compatible, so cargo trains arriving at the border will need time to unload. Therefore, strengthening railway connectivity can boost Vietnam's exports to China, create a boost for tourism, and further integrate the two countries' manufacturing industries, within the framework of the two corridors "Kunming - Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong", "Nanning - Lang Son - Hanoi - Hai Phong" and "Tonkin Gulf economic belt". In this context, experts believe that high-level contacts between the leaders of the two countries in general and the upcoming visit of General Secretary and President Xi Jinping in particular will be a boost for future economic projects of Vietnam and China. "High-level visits between the Vietnamese and Chinese governments will create good opportunities for businesses and people of the two countries to be self-reliant and gradually join the international middle and high-end industrial chain", Professor Tra assessed.

Dantri.com.vn