The Hanoi government appreciates the support from China's Guangzhou and other Chinese partners in developing comprehensive technical infrastructures with urban rail being put at the center.

The assessment was made by Duong Duc Tuan, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, during a meeting on September 24 with a Guangzhou delegation led by Vice Mayor Lai Zhihong.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Duong Duc Tuan (R) meets with Guangzhou's Vice Mayor Lai Zhihong. Photo: The Hanoi Times

At the meeting, Tuan highlighted Hanoi’s development priorities, particularly its ambitious transport infrastructure strategy. Through this strategy, Hanoi targets to develop 15 metro lines by 2065.

In the first phase, from now until 2030, the city wants to complete building some 97 kilometers of metro lines while preparing investment for an additional 301 kilometers, according to the Hanoi official.

He added that Hanoi will concentrate resources in the next five years to complete several priority lines and upgrade their connections with the national railway network.

“Given the significant capital and technical requirements, China’s support in finance and technology is crucial,” Tuan said.

The Hanoi official noted that Hanoi and Guangzhou have been a sister-city to each other since 2023 and that transport development, especially metro projects, is among major collaborative areas.

For his part, Guangzhou's Vice Mayor Lai Zhihong said that the Chinese city stands ready to expand cooperation with Hanoi, citing strong bilateral political trust and geographic proximity as favorable conditions.

He noted that Guangzhou’s GDP reached 3.1 trillion yuan (US$426.7 billion) in 2024 and four million businesses are now active, and that such conditions create substantial opportunities for collaboration.

During the talks, both sides exchanged views on a range of cooperation areas and agreed to deepen existing commitments.

Guangzhou enterprises also presented their capabilities and interest in joining Hanoi projects in transport and environmental management.

Vice Chairman Tuan welcomed the proposals from Chinese companies. He expected both cities to broaden cooperation in education, training, infrastructure development and tourism. 

He also instructed relevant Hanoi agencies to coordinate with Guangzhou counterparts to assess the feasibility of new cooperation initiatives.