General Secretary To Lam visits China: A crucial diplomatic mission

From August 18 to 20, General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife will undertake a state visit to China. 

This visit comes at the invitation of Chinese General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and his wife, marking General Secretary To Lam’s first visit to China since assuming his new role.

An important diplomatic endeavor

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son described the visit as an especially significant diplomatic event for both Vietnam and China this year. It is expected to profoundly influence the long-term trajectory of relations between the two Parties and nations.

“The decision of General Secretary and President To Lam to accept the invitation from General Secretary and President Xi Jinping for his first state visit to China since taking office underscores the critical importance both countries place on strengthening and advancing their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership,” Minister Bui Thanh Son stated.

Both sides anticipate fruitful outcomes across several areas. Building on the strong relationship carefully nurtured by the leaders of both countries – including the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and other Vietnamese leaders – this visit aims to further the positive development trend in Vietnam - China relations, achieved through recent historic exchanges between the top leaders of the two Parties and nations. The visit is expected to sustain high-level strategic dialogues, fortify the foundation of political trust, and set the direction for the future development of bilateral relations.

The second expectation, as outlined by the Foreign Minister, is to establish consensus on major directions and measures to effectively build the Vietnam - China Community of Shared Future, a partnership of strategic significance, following the "6 more" orientation agreed upon by both sides.

"The focus will be on continuing to implement high-level agreements and signed commitments, fostering substantive cooperation, particularly in key areas of mutual interest such as railway connectivity, agricultural trade, high-quality investments, finance and currency, culture and tourism, and people-to-people exchanges," Minister Bui Thanh Son emphasized.

Another expectation is that through candid, sincere, and substantive discussions on territorial and border issues, both sides will work together to address existing challenges, better manage and resolve maritime disagreements, and ensure that such issues do not hinder the healthy development of relations between the two Parties and countries. This will contribute to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and globally.

"I am confident that, with the special attention and close coordination of both sides, the State visit to China by General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife will be a great success, marking a new milestone and ushering in a new phase of development for the friendly neighborly relationship, the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and the Vietnam - China Community of Shared Future," the Foreign Minister expressed.

Many cooperation achievements, including agriculture

Assessing the achievements of cooperation between the two countries in recent times, Minister Bui Thanh Son said that after more than 30 years of normalization, especially after more than 15 years since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework in 2008, the Vietnam - China relationship has made rapid progress and is increasingly profound and comprehensive in all fields.

In particular, after the historic official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in October 2022 and the third State visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping in December 2023, the two sides agreed to continue to deepen and further enhance the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, build a Vietnam - China Community of Shared Future with strategic significance in the direction of "6 more", opening a new chapter for bilateral relations.

Since the beginning of 2024, the bilateral relationship has maintained a positive development momentum, with the atmosphere of cooperation spreading strongly to all levels, sectors and people. Both sides assessed that the bilateral relationship is at its deepest, most comprehensive and substantial level ever.

Specifically, exchanges and contacts at high and all levels from central to local levels are maintained regularly in many flexible forms, thereby contributing to enhancing political trust and creating new momentum for all levels and sectors of the two sides.

Since the beginning of the year, Vietnam has had two key delegations of leaders, including the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the National Assembly, visit and work in China. In addition, a number of Politburo members, Secretaries of the Party Central Committee and leaders of many Vietnamese ministries, sectors and localities have visited China. The two sides have also opened up new areas of cooperation, establishing additional mechanisms for annual high-level exchanges between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the National People's Congress of China.

Recently, the Chinese Party and State expressed their special affection and respect for the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China promptly sent a condolence message; General Secretary and President Xi Jinping visited the Vietnamese Embassy in Beijing; and sent a special representative, Politburo Standing Committee member and Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Wang Huning, to attend the funeral.

In addition, economic - trade - investment cooperation continues to grow. We are impressed with the figures such as import-export turnover in the first 6 months alone increased by 24.1% over the same period in 2023, reaching 94.5 billion USD; the number of FDI projects in the first half of this year continued to rank first with 447 newly licensed projects with a total registered capital of nearly 1.3 billion USD; tourism recovered positively (in the first 7 months of the year, there were 2.1 million Chinese visitors to Vietnam, higher than the whole of 2023).

Agricultural cooperation between the two countries has made new progress with the two sides basically completing the procedures for the official export of a number of Vietnamese agricultural products to China such as frozen durian, fresh coconut, fresh chili, passion fruit, etc.; people-to-people exchanges have been strengthened, the number of Vietnamese students studying in China has reached more than 23,000 people, double the number before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Along with that, the overall land border situation remains stable; the situation in the East Sea is basically well controlled; the mechanisms for exchange and negotiation between the two sides on maritime issues are maintained regularly. The two sides are aiming to organize activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Land Border Treaty and the 15th anniversary of the signing of three legal documents on the Vietnam–China land border.