Vietnam, China Foreign Ministers discuss measures to promote bilateral ties: Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son (L) meets Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing on June 25, 2023. (Photo: VNA)

Foreign Minister Son, who is accompanying Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on an official visit to China, underlined that Vietnam attaches great importance to developing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China, which is a top priority in Vietnam’s external policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of foreign relations.

Foreign Minister Qin affirmed that China considers Vietnam a priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy as well as in its relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The two sides agreed that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s ongoing visit is of great significance in continuing to reinforce and concretise high-level joint perceptions reached between the two countries during Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to China in last October, contributing to promoting the development of Vietnam-China relations in a stable, healthy and sustainable manner.

The two Foreign Ministers hailed the positive development trend of the relations between the two Parties and countries over the recent past. As the standing agencies of the Steering Committee for the Vietnam-China relations, the two sides agreed to continue to work closely together in promoting meetings and exchanges at all levels between the two countries, while supporting ministries, sectors and localities of the two countries to deepen their partnership in all fields, expanding bilateral cooperation at multilateral forums, and properly settling disputes, thus maintaining a peaceful and stable environment in the region.

Highlighting a number of issues of Vietnam’s concern in cooperation between the two countries, Foreign Minister Son proposed that the two sides strive for balanced and sustainable economic-trade collaboration. He suggested that China open its market and create optimal conditions for Vietnamese goods, especially farm produce to enter China, while increasing high-quality investment in Vietnam and coordinating with Vietnam in dealing with obstacles in a number of joint projects and speeding up the disbursement of Chinese grants in Vietnam.

Agreeing with Foreign Minister Son’s proposal, Qin underlined that the two countries are becoming increasingly important economic and trade partner of each other. China is willing to work with Vietnam to optimise the supplementary advantages of the two economies, affirming that his countries will increase the import of Vietnamese products, especially farm produce, and create favourable conditions for custom clearance of goods through road border gates between the two countries, thus maintaining the smooth supply and production chain.

China will also encourage its reputable businesses to invest in Vietnam in areas of Vietnam’s demand, he stated.

The two Foreign Ministers also had sincere and straightforward discussions on issues at sea, concurring to continue to strictly implement agreements and perceptions reached by leaders of the two Parties and States, well control disputes and properly settle issues at sea.

Foreign Minister Son said that the two sides should respect each other’s legitimate interests in line with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982.

At the meeting, the two Foreign Ministers also discussed international and regional issues of shared concern.