BEIJING: China rolled out the red carpet on Monday for Vietnam’s top leader To Lam, and the two socialist countries vowed to further enhance their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and advance the building of a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.
During their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, welcomed Lam’s state visit to China, which is the Vietnamese leader’s first overseas trip since he became general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee on Aug 3.
Xi said the visit reflects the great importance Lam attaches to the relations between the two parties and the two countries, and also embodies the high level and strategic importance of China-Vietnam ties.
Lam succeeded Nguyen Phu Trong, who passed away last month, and has been serving as the Vietnamese president since May.
The first stop of Lam’s three-day state visit to China, which started on Sunday, took him to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, where former leader of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh spent time promoting revolutionary activities around a century ago.
Saying that the traditional friendship between the two parties and the two countries is as good as “comrades and brothers”, Xi called for consistent efforts to build the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, a consensus reached between the two sides during his visit to Vietnam in December. China regards Vietnam as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, Xi said.
Noting that both countries are at a critical stage of national development and revitalization, he underlined the need for them to solidify a pattern for the development of bilateral relations featuring higher political mutual trust, more substantial security cooperation, deeper pragmatic collaboration, stronger public support, closer multilateral coordination and better management of differences.
China is willing to maintain close strategic communication and high-level exchanges with Vietnam, and actively explore ways to expand the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam’s Two Corridors and One Economic Circle strategy, he said. Xi also emphasized the need for both sides to step up the connectivity of railway, highway and port infrastructure, enhance connectivity of smart customs, and work together to build secure and stable industrial and supply chains.
Lam highlighted the importance of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, emphasizing that China is a strategic choice and top priority in Vietnam’s foreign policy. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
