Top Vietnamese, Chinese legislators hold talks

Vuong affirmed the Vietnamese Party and State attach special importance to developing stable, healthy, sustainable and long-term relations with China, considering it a strategic choice and top priority in Viet Nam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralism and diversification.

Hue suggested China facilitate the early establishment of Viet Nam's trade promotion offices in Chengdu (Sichuan), Haikou (Hainan), and Nanjing (Jiangsu), and continue to expand imports of Vietnamese goods and agricultural products.

The top Vietnamese legislator asked both sides to promptly commence negotiations and sign a framework agreement on rice trade, effectively pilot smart border gates, facilitate customs clearance and Vietnamese goods transit to third country via the Asia-Europe railway.

Vuong recommended the two nations work together to resolve outstanding issues in certain cooperation projects, speed up the progress of China's non-refundable aid to Viet Nam, and explore standard-gauge railway construction projects, including the Ha Noi-Lao Cai, Ha Noi-Quang Ninh, and Ha Noi-Lang Son sections.

He suggested both sides should actively promote negotiation mechanisms at sea, implement agreements on the search and rescue work and set up hotlines to handle incidents arising from fishing activities towards soon signing a new fishery cooperation agreement in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Viet Nam and China should work with ASEAN countries to accelerate negotiations for a practical, efficient and effective Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea in line with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), he stressed.

Zhao, for his part, reiterated that China always considers Viet Nam a priority in its neighborly diplomacy policy, and consistently supports Viet Nam in successfully implementing its industrialization, modernization and enhancing its international role.

He asserted that China stands ready to join hands with Viet Nam to deepen practical cooperation, expand trade and investment collaboration, enhance strategic connectivity for development and carry out high-quality development.

Strategic connectivity will be bolstered through the "Belt and Road" and "Two Corridors, One Belt" initiatives, with focus on developing infrastructure, roads, railways and smart border gates, he added.

Zhao affirmed China is ready to deepen substantive cooperation with Viet Nam, expand trade, investment cooperation, strengthen strategic connectivity development, implement high-quality development and enhance strategic connectivity between Belt and Road Initiative and the Two Corridors and One Belt Initiative, with the focus on infrastructure, road transportation, railways and smart border gates, contributing to improving clearance efficiency.

China welcomes Viet Nam's opening of its representative and trade promotion offices in various Chinese localities, he said, suggesting competent ministries and sectors of both sides work together to satisfactorily handle existing problems in cooperation projects with goodwill and constructive manner.

He expressed his hope that both sides will capitalize on the mechanism to enhance experience exchange in legislation work, supervision and state management to better serve the building of socialism in each country, making contributions to the Viet Nam–China Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership in the coming time.

Both sides discussed specific measures to concretize the achievements and high-level common perceptions reached during Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China in November 2022 and Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping's visit to Viet Nam in December 2023.

They also discussed measures to further enhance and deepen cooperation between the two legislatures in the coming time.

The two sides vowed to effectively implement the joint statement on further deepening and elevating the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, and building a Viet Nam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.

They agreed to maintain exchanges and contacts at all levels, and boost cooperation via the Party, Government, parliament and front channels.

The two leaders also exchanged views on maritime issues in an open and frank manner, and concurred to continue realizing the common perceptions reached by the leaders of the two Parties and States, properly control differences to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea.

They pledged to step up cooperation between agencies of the two legislative bodies at regional and international forums./.