Xi Jinping says China will build stable supply chain with ‘comrade’ Vietnam
- Chinese president also notes ‘complex international environment’ facing the two socialist countries in talks with Nguyen Phu Trong
- Visiting Vietnamese Communist Party chief says the nation will not allow any foreign military base to be established there
Trong – the first foreign leader to visit China since Xi secured a third term – said Vietnam would not allow any overseas military base to be established in the country, nor would it join forces with any country against another.
“Vietnam … has made the development of friendship and cooperation with China the top priority in our foreign policy,” Trong told Xi during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Trong also said Vietnam wanted to work with China to maintain peace and stability on their land border and at sea, to avoid maritime issues “affecting the overall development of relations between the two countries”.
Vietnam is also seen as an alternative to some of China’s manufacturing sectors in the global supply chain due to its relatively lower cost, especially given Beijing’s trade war with Washington and rising geopolitical risks.
During their meeting, Xi told Trong that China encouraged its tech companies to invest in Vietnam and also promoted cooperation in areas such as healthcare, green development, the digital economy and on climate change.
“China is willing to accelerate linking development strategies with the Vietnamese side, promote connectivity between the two countries and jointly build a stable industrial chain supply chain system,” Xi said, according to CCTV.
He said that in terms of ideology, the two socialist countries faced “a very complex international environment and serious risks”.
“The Chinese and Vietnamese communist parties must … make every effort to promote socialist modernisation, never letting anyone interfere with our advancement and never letting any force shake the institutional foundation of our development,” he said.
Xi also said the two parties should boost exchanges on governance and keep up military communication and cooperation on law enforcement to “maintain each other’s political security and social stability”.
Beaten, robbed: Vietnam fisherman recounts attacks by China’s coast guard
Footage aired on Chinese state television showed the two leaders meeting without masks on and hugging after shaking hands, when they posed for a picture.
Xi last visited Vietnam five years ago, his first trip abroad after the last party congress.
China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner. The two countries’ bilateral trade surpassed US$165 billion in 2021, up 24.6 per cent from the previous year, according to official Vietnamese customs data.
On Monday, Chinese ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo described Trong’s trip as “a very important visit at a critical moment” as the two countries entered a new stage of socialist development.
“The two countries have long fought side by side and supported each other over the cause of national independence and national liberation, forging a special friendship of ‘camaraderie and brotherhood’, exchanging and learning from each other in promoting socialist construction, and moving forward together,” Xiong wrote in party mouthpiece People’s Daily.
