China and Vietnam are good neighbors and good friends linked by mountains and rivers, as well as good comrades and partners who share a common destiny.
China has maintained the status of Vietnam's largest partner for many years, and Vietnam is also China's largest partner in ASEAN. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Vietnam, and under the leadership of the leaders of the two countries, China-Vietnam cooperation will surely reach a new level.
1. China-Vietnam cooperation has yielded fruitful results
In modern times, in the course of the exploration of national independence and national liberation, the older generation of Chinese and Vietnamese revolutionaries have forged a friendship of "comrades and brothers." On January 18, 1950, the newly founded People's Republic of China became the first country in the world to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. The traditional friendship personally created and meticulously nurtured by the leaders of the older generation of the two countries is a precious asset of China-Vietnam relations, which deserves to be remembered and cherished forever.
Over the past 70 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam, China-Vietnam relations have withstood the test of wind and rain and matured, with friendship and cooperation being the mainstream. Over the past 30 years since the normalization of Sino-Vietnamese relations, especially since the establishment of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and communication, and economic and trade cooperation has become increasingly close and yielding fruitful results.
Shu Jueting, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce of China, said at a regular press conference on November 30 that China has maintained Vietnam's largest partner for many years, and Vietnam is China's largest partner in ASEAN and the fourth largest partner in the world. The bilateral amount exceeded 200 billion US dollars for two consecutive years, and in the first 10 months of this year, the bilateral amount reached 185.1 billion US dollars. The border small** and the border mutual market are becoming more and more active, the export of Vietnamese durian and other agricultural products to China has increased significantly, and cross-border e-commerce is booming, and there are many bright spots in the field.
In the first half of this year, China invested in 233 projects in Vietnam, with an investment of nearly US$1.3 billion, making it the third largest direct investment country in Vietnam after Singapore and Japan, the Voice of Vietnam Radio said on December 1. Up to now, China has 3,791 effective investment projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of more than US$25 billion.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong pointed out when he met with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and head of the Communist Party of China, in Hanoi on December 1Vietnam and China are connected by mountains and waters. "Vietnamese-Chinese friendship is deep, comrades and brothers" is unique in the world. "After I became the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam for the third time, the first country I visited was China. "The continuous development of Vietnamese-Chinese relations is fully in line with the aspirations of the Vietnamese people, and I believe that through the joint efforts of both sides, the friendship between the two countries will become deeper and deeper.
2. Vietnam attaches more and more importance to the "Belt and Road".
This year marks the 10th anniversary of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past 10 years, Vietnam's official response to the Belt and Road Initiative has gone from initial misgivings and wait-and-see to increasing support and expectation. China has so far held three Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and Vietnam has sent senior national leaders to attend, which shows that Vietnam attaches great importance to China-Vietnam friendly and cooperative relations and the Belt and Road Initiative.
In October this year, Vu Van Thanh attended the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. He said in Beijing that after 10 years of development, the Belt and Road Initiative has become an open, inclusive, high-quality and important platform for international cooperation, which has effectively promoted the development of countries and the friendship of peoples.
When Vo Van Thanh met with Wang Yi in Hanoi on December 1, he stressed that Vietnam is willing to work with China to continuously consolidate and deepen the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. In the process of promoting the strategic synergy between the "Belt and Road" and the "Two Corridors and One Circle", we will strengthen complementary advantages and carry out more cooperation in energy transition and critical infrastructure.
Vietnam's strengthening of cooperation with China on the Belt and Road Initiative will not only benefit both countries, but also contribute to the construction of the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor, one of the six corridors of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Indochina Peninsula is an important area of the "Belt and Road", is one of the three major peninsulas in southern Asia, China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor starts from Nanning, Guangxi and Kunming, Yunnan, and ends in Singapore, running through the Indochina Peninsula Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and other countries, is China's land bridge connecting the Indochina Peninsula, and is also a transnational economic corridor for cooperation between China and ASEAN.
3. Vietnam looks forward to strengthening cooperation on transport infrastructure
In 2017, China and Vietnam signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative and the Two Corridors and One Belt. Since then, the leaders of the two countries have stressed on many occasions that they will accelerate the strategic alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative and the "Two Corridors and One Circle" and promote practical cooperation in various fields.
"Two corridors and one circle" refers to the "Kunming, Lao Cai, Hanoi, Haiphong, Quang Ninh", "Nanning, Lang Son, Hanoi, Haiphong, Quang Ninh" economic corridors and the Beibu Gulf Economic Circle.
As a landmark project of the "Belt and Road" initiative and the "Two Corridors and One Circle" strategy, Vietnam's first urban light rail Hanoi light rail line 2, the Ji Linh-Ha Dong line, was put into operation in November 2021, which is nearly one hour faster than car travel. This light rail line not only speeds up people's lives, but also drives the formation of multiple business districts along the line, driving the economic development of the Vietnamese capital. In the past two years of operation, it has been well received by all walks of life in Vietnam and has become a new landmark in Hanoi, with many young people choosing to take the light rail to "see the capital from the sky" on weekends, and even some newlyweds take wedding photos at the station.
The project is contracted and constructed by China Railway Sixth Bureau Group. Although it is one of the later construction projects in Vietnam, it was the first to be delivered, and the key to its key lies in the fact that Chinese enterprises have won the trust of the Vietnamese side in Chinese technology, Chinese manufacturing and Chinese standards with excellent construction technology and high-quality services, and the two sides have been able to achieve efficient cooperation. However, the subway projects undertaken by Japan and France have encountered various problems and have not been completed on schedule.
On November 16, the China Urban Rail Transit Association, Guangzhou Metro Group and the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Committee of Vietnam signed a memorandum of cooperation in Guangzhou to set common goals to support the study and implementation of the development strategy of Ho Chi Minh City's urban railway system. This is the latest progress of cooperation between Vietnam and China in the construction of urban rail transit, which fully demonstrates Vietnam's recognition of China's capabilities and the need for strengthened cooperation.
At present, Vietnam is stepping up the implementation of the resolutions of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. In addition to urban rail transit, Vietnam also attaches great importance to the construction and transformation of railways.
Since the beginning of this year, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Vo Van Thanh have talked about cooperation in cross-border infrastructure facilities including railways during their visits to China, and Vietnam's Minister of Transport has organized a delegation to visit China's railway departments and major companies to strive for China's participation in their railway construction projects. It is foreseeable that in the field of railway construction, the two sides are also expected to carry out more in-depth cooperation.