Viet Nam, China convene 14th meeting of steering committee for bilateral cooperation

The two sides agreed that since the 13th meeting in September last year, the Viet Nam-China relations have progressed positively.   

They agreed to accelerate visits and contacts at all levels and uphold the important role of the steering committee in coordinating the resolution of arising obstacles between the two countries and strengthen people-to-people exchanges.

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh asked the Chinese side to continue to facilitate customs clearance at both road and railway border gates especially for Vietnamese seasonal fruits and agricultural products.

He also suggested establishment of "green lanes" to reduce quarantine and customs clearance time for Vietnamese agricultural products.

Pham also called upon the Chinese side to open market for Vietnamese fruits and facilitate the opening of Viet Nam's Trade Promotion Office in Chengdu city, Sichuan province.

He also suggested the two sides improve the efficiency of the Viet Nam-China international rail transport route connecting with the China-Europe railway and some countries.

Pham asked China to expand its high-quality investment inflow in Viet Nam, seek new fields of coopeation like cross-border e-commerce, and raise efficiency of cooperation in finance, transportation, agriculture, environment, science and technology, education, culture, tourism and sports.

In reply, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China attaches importance to Viet Nam's proposal on agricultural and fishery exports to the neighbouring country, ensures proper goods circulation at border gates and stands ready to upgrade twin border gates in line with demands of the two countries.

Wang said China will continue to expand its markets, cooperate with Viet Nam to maintain stable supply chains and production chains, deepen cooperation on the new land and sea intermodal corridors and discuss cooperation in other areas.

In addition, China will restore commercial flights between the two countries and receive Vietnamese students returning to China to study, said Wang.

Regarding border issue, the two sides agreed to cooperate to manage the land border, satisfactorily settle arising issues in accordance with the three legal documents on the land border between Viet Nam and China.   

The two sides agreed to continue to strictly adhere to the high-level common perceptions on maintaining peace and stability at sea, including the Agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of maritime issues between Viet Nam and China.

The pair was unanimous in effectively promoting negotiation mechanisms to achieve substantive progress and accelerate the negotiation of a new agreement on fishery cooperation in the Gulf of Tonkin; early signing a cooperative agreement on search and rescue at sea and another to set up a hotline to handle unexpected cases of fishing activities at sea.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh stressed that it is necessary for the two sides to control disagreements; not to take actions to complicate the situation or expand disputes; mutually respect each other's legitimate rights and interests in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and maintain peace and stability in the East Sea.

On the occasion, the two sides signed cooperative documents including an agreement on economic and technical cooperation on the provision of non-refundable aids between the Vietnamese and Chinese Governments in fiscal year 2020, a protocol on phytosanitary requirements for Vietnamese durian exports to China, and an agreement on comparative research project on environment, geology and marine geohazards in the Red River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta.

Earlier on July 12, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh hosted a reception for Mr. Liu Ning, Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region./.