Viet Nam, China to hold 8th Border Defense Friendship Exchange in September.

The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense announced the event at a press briefing in Ha Noi on August 29. 

The Vietnamese delegation will be led by Phan Van Giang, Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, and Minister of National Defense. Meanwhile, Li Shangfu, State Councilor and Minister of National Defense of China, will lead the Chinese side to the event.

On September 7, Viet Nam will host activities including a welcome ceremony for the Chinese delegation at the Lao Cai International Border Gate, a border marker saluting ceremony, the planting of commemorative trees, the launch of work on a friendship house of culture in Ban Phiet commune of Bao Thang district, a visit to and presentation of gifts to the Kim Dong Primary School in Lao Cai city, and the talks between the two delegations.

Meanwhile, China will host activities on September 8, including a welcome ceremony for the Vietnamese delegation at the Hekou International Border Gate, a border marker saluting ceremony, the planting of commemorative trees, a visit to a military unit/a school in the Hekou area, and a bilateral seminar.

Prior to the exchange, both sides will organize a series of activities like providing free health examinations and medicine for border residents, presenting scholarships to 50 students from low-income families, and heifers to disadvantaged households.

Both sides will also review the relationship between border communities and the coordination between the Lao Cai International Border Gate border guard post and the Hekou border guard unit of Yunnan's Mengzi region.

The eighth exchange aims to help implement the Viet Nam - China joint statement on the continued promotion and intensification of their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, issued during an official visit to China by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in November 2022.

The first exchange was held in Quang Ninh province of Viet Nam and Guangxi province of China in 2014./.