China and Vietnam sign 14 documents to advance practical cooperation

Fourteen agreements have been reached between China and Vietnam as the top Vietnamese leader pays a state visit to China from Sunday to Tuesday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese president, held talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.

After the talks, the two sides jointly witnessed the signing of 14 cooperation documents between ministries, agencies, and localities of the two countries.

All of the documents relate to practical cooperation in various fields, including connectivity and infrastructure, healthcare, customs, media, and the livelihoods of people.

Connectivity is one of the most highlighted keywords. Chinese President Xi Jinping said during the talks with his Vietnamese counterpart that China will promote the "hard connectivity" of railway, expressway, and port infrastructure, and enhance the "soft connectivity" of smart customs.

Documents relevant to several railway projects have been signed to push forward cooperation, including aid projects for Vietnam in the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong standard gauge railway, and for another two standard gauge railway routes from Lang Son to Hanoi and from Mong Cai to Ha Long to Hanoi.

China has been Vietnam's largest trading partner since 2004 while Vietnam is China's largest trading partner within ASEAN.

A total of 6,850 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers of goods were shipped via China-Vietnam freight trains departing from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the first seven months of 2024. It marks a 16-fold increase year on year.

The cooperation of these "hard connectivity" is expected to help smooth the trading and build a more stable industrial and supply chain.

The two countries also push forward more cooperation in quarantine and health care. According to Vietnam News Agency (VNA), three protocols on plant quarantine and food safety for frozen durian, plant quarantine requirements for fresh coconuts, and quarantine and health requirements for farmed crocodiles exported from Vietnam to China between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) of Vietnam and the General Administration of Customs China (GACC) have been signed. The two sides also signed a memorandum of cooperation on healthcare cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) and the National Health Commission of China, said VNA.

To boost communication, agreements on cooperation between news agencies, televisions, and journalist associations of the two countries were also signed on Monday.

Last year, 36 documents were signed when the Chinese President paid a state visit to Vietnam in December, aiming to advance cooperation in railways and other sectors, including the establishment of communication mechanisms to respond to maritime emergencies and other incidents.

The 14 agreements signed are small steps on the road of cooperation between China and Vietnam, while they signify steady progress in building a China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and a community with a shared future for mankind.