China and Vietnam partner for regional peace and stability

Editor's note: Ding Duo, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is the deputy director and an associate research fellow at the Research Center for Ocean Law and Policy, at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, held talks with To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese president, on August 19 during the latter's three-day state visit to China. The close high-level exchanges between the two parties and the two countries fully demonstrate the special nature of Chinese-Vietnamese relations.

China and Vietnam are friendly socialist neighbors with the same political system, shared ideals and beliefs, and related futures and destinies. The two countries supported each other in their respective struggles for national independence and liberation and learned from each other in their reforms and innovations.

Both countries regard developing neighborly friendly relations with each other as a top priority. In recent years, bilateral cooperation has been involved in all fields, and the political mutual trust has become further strengthened as bilateral relations are at the deepest, most comprehensive and most substantive level in history.

Economic and trade relations are a highlight of China-Vietnam cooperation as the two economies are highly complementary. China has long been Vietnam's largest trading partner, and Vietnam is China's largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the fourth largest in the world.

In addition, the trade relations are also reciprocal. For example, Vietnam's high-quality agricultural products are deeply favored by Chinese consumers, and the China-built Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi is a landmark project under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), bringing great convenience to local people.

In recent years, new energy cooperation between the two sides has gained momentum. Chinese companies have built the largest overseas photovoltaic facilities in Vietnam and invested in several advanced waste-to-energy power plants. These projects and outcomes have brought tangible benefits to the people of both countries.

The development achievements of China and Vietnam that have attracted worldwide attention not only are the fruits of their own hard work but also help promote a more open and inclusive world and a more peaceful and stable Asia-Pacific environment.

China does not engage in exclusive cliques, bloc politics, or bloc confrontation. There is no doubt that strengthening China-Vietnam multilateral cooperation will help safeguard the global free trade system with a safer, more stable, smoother and efficient, more open, more inclusive, mutually beneficial, and win-win global industrial chain and supply chain.

China's cooperation with regional countries, including Vietnam, comes with no strings attached. By proposing the BRI and the three global initiatives (namely the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative), China shares the fruits of peaceful development with Vietnam and other neighboring countries to further promote connectivity and social development in Southeast Asia.

Apart from that, on maritime issues, China and Vietnam should actively promote mutually beneficial functional cooperation by eliminating external interference and speeding up consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea to make the South China Sea peaceful.

In recent years, the two sides have effectively managed differences in the related region, indicating that continuing to maintain peace in the South China Sea is in the common interests of China and Vietnam. In fact, both countries recognize that they need to be properly handled in the spirit of mutual trust and respect and strive to promote joint maritime development and jointly maintain regional peace and stability.

Vietnam is playing an increasingly important role in regional and international affairs. Under the current international situation, it adheres to principles of independence, initiative and diversification, and pursues a diplomatic balance strategy of major powers.

Since 2023, while it has upgraded its relations with the United States and Japan, among others, Vietnam's emphasis on developing deeper relations with China is its top priority – that is not just a verbal statement, but a comprehensive consideration and strategic choice based on reality.

The positive development of China-Vietnam relations has a strong endogenous driving force. Against the backdrop of profound changes in the international situation and increasingly prominent global instability and insecurity, a sound relationship between China and Vietnam will not only catalyze a peaceful and stable environment in the region and the world at large, but also help boost socialist development in the world.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X, formerly Twitter, to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)