Vietnam agrees on fishing hotline with China but pace of trade ‘slow’

High-level talks establish cooperation on South China Sea issues but Hanoi vents frustration at progress of economic ties

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh calls on Beijing to create favourable customs conditions and reduce Covid-19 quarantine

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Vietnam and China have agreed to speed up plans for a hotline to deal with fishing incidents in the South China Sea. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:00pm, 14 Jul 2022Updated: 3:02pm, 14 Jul 2022

Vietnam has vented a number of frustrations over the slow pace of economic cooperation with China, even as the two nations agreed to speed up the establishment of a hotline to deal with marine fisheries incidents.

In high-level talks on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh vowed to properly handle their maritime disputes over the South China Sea and further boost bilateral ties.

High-level talks between China and Vietnam included frank discussions on trade as well as agreement on fishing and other issues relating to the South China Sea. Photo: Xinhua

“Facing the risks and challenges on the way forward and the arduous reform and development tasks, China and Vietnam must inherit special friendship, consolidate unity and mutual trust and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation,” Wang said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported that during the meeting in Guanxi, southern China, Pham agreed that both sides have maintained steady cooperation over the past months.

But it also said there were “frank discussions about some problems in bilateral cooperation”, specifically trade imbalances and obstacles to cross-border trade from Vietnam to China.

“The progress of opening up Chinese markets to Vietnamese agricultural products and some economic cooperation projects, and development aid projects are slow. Travelling between the two countries is still difficult because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the news agency said.

Pham called on China to create favourable customs conditions at border gates, while setting up “green lines” to reduce quarantine times and speed up the clearance of goods.