Building strategic trust between the two parties – a solid foundation for Vietnam-China relations

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held talks with General Secretary andPresident of China Xi Jinping during his official visit to China in November 2022.

On the eve of the visit to Vietnam of General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Quang, Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic Studies and Development of International Relations; Vice President of the Vietnam-China Friendship Association; former Director of the Northeast Asia China Department, Central Foreign Affairs Commission, shared his assessments of the strategic trust between the two Parties and two countries and his expectations for the visit.

Highlights of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership

Looking back at the history of bilateral relations, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Quang assessed that since the two countries normalized relations in 1991, Vietnam-China relations have begun to develop, but have not been stable.

In 1999, Vietnam proposed a policy of developing stable bilateral relations, from which the two sides issued the “16-word” guiding principle. Both sides also recognized the need to upgrade bilateral relations to a higher level, so in 2008, the two countries officially established the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership framework.

Maintaining high-level contacts has been a highlight of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership over the past 15 years. The strategic stature of the Vietnam-China relationship is demonstrated through visits by senior leaders of the two Parties and two countries, notably through exchanges and experience sharing between the two Parties through many channels, forums, and theoretical seminars held annually.

Vietnam and China are both socialist countries led by the Communist Party, both going through a period of transition, in which Vietnam is a period of renovation, and China is a period of reform and opening up, so mutual exchange between the two sides is very necessary for this process. The two sides regularly exchange theories and learn from development experiences.

Strategically, both sides are persistent in the path to socialism. This is also an important highlight in the cooperative relationship between the two Parties, which is both the will of the two Parties and the aspiration of the people of the two countries. Comrade Xi Jinping and other senior Chinese leaders have repeatedly affirmed that developing good relations with Vietnam is China's priority choice.

Vietnam-China strategic trust is deepening

The strategic trust between the two countries is demonstrated through the policy choices of the two Parties and the two countries. Comrade Xi Jinping highly values the leadership of the Communist Party in China's development strategy.

The Chinese side highly appreciated the prestige and leadership role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in successfully implementing the reform policy. There are many similarities in the Party building work between Vietnam and China, in which the typical example is that the work of preventing corruption and cleaning up the Party in China has been carried out very effectively and Vietnam has also done this work very well in recent years.

In particular, the theory of socialism and Vietnam's path to socialism is of great interest to China and is very attractive to Chinese communists, including General Secretary Xi Jinping.

It can be affirmed that the strategic trust between the two countries is the trust between the two Parties. That is also the reason why General Secretary Xi Jinping is determined to visit Vietnam in the last days of the year, a visit with great expectations.

Vietnam values China as a large country led by the Communist Party and with a fast growth rate. China also sees Vietnam as a country with the fastest growth rate and the most political and social stability in the region. Both sides highly value each other and both wish to elevate their relationship to a higher level.

In the overall three diplomatic channels of Party, State and people's diplomacy, there is no country in the world that has had such a long-standing and deep relationship between Party and people-to-people diplomacy as Vietnam and China.

In fact, the relationship between the two Parties has a history of 100 years, since before the Communist Party of Vietnam was born, President Ho Chi Minh had a relationship with Chinese communists. Cooperation between the two Parties guides the relationship between the two countries.

People-to-people diplomacy also plays an extremely important role in Vietnam-China relations, acting as a red thread throughout and a foundation for building friendly relations between the two countries. Under the leadership of the two Parties, people-to-people exchanges have taken place in many diverse and creative forms.

Promoting and strengthening Vietnam-China cooperation to new heights

According to Mr. Nguyen Vinh Quang, now is a very favorable time to promote and strengthen Vietnam-China relations. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China at the end of 2022 was followed by a series of visits by senior leaders of the two countries, such as the visit to China by Politburo member and Standing Member of the Secretariat Truong Thi Mai, the visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, President Vo Van Thuong to attend the Belt and Road Forum and many leaders of central ministries and branches visiting China.

High-ranking Chinese leaders also visited Vietnam, most recently Politburo member, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi came to Vietnam to organize the 15th meeting of the Steering Committee for Vietnam-China Bilateral Cooperation.

Through high-level visits and contacts, it can be seen that the relationship between the two countries in the fields of politics and diplomacy is developing well. Along with that, cooperation in economics, trade, investment, and tourism is also very vibrant, especially since China reopened after the pandemic.

The two sides have become important markets for each other, with Vietnam being China’s largest trading partner among ASEAN countries. It is very encouraging that the trade balance gap between Vietnam and China is gradually narrowing.

It can be said that the upcoming visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping takes place in the context of the good development of relations between the two countries.

This is the third time Comrade Xi Jinping has visited Vietnam as General Secretary and President of China, the largest number of visits by a General Secretary and President of China since the two countries normalized relations, showing that China and Comrade Xi Jinping personally attach great importance to relations with Vietnam.

Vietnam attaches great importance to this visit of Chinese General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, hoping that the visit will promote Vietnam-China relations to new heights.

Mr. Nguyen Vinh Quang expressed his hope that the two sides will discuss important issues such as connecting development strategies between Vietnam and China, which is a new trend in the world as well as in the Asia-Pacific region.

The connection of development strategies between Vietnam and China will be discussed more specifically by the top leaders of the two neighboring countries, which have many similarities, during this visit, Mr. Quang shared.

In addition, China's investment in large and high-quality projects in Vietnam is also very potential. The two sides can promote mutually beneficial investment cooperation in areas where Vietnam has demand and China has strengths such as infrastructure development, green development... to improve the quality of economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

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