Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets Vietnamese counterpart to promote cooperation
- Li and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh discuss South China Sea disputes and development issues
- Chinh’s visit is the first by a Vietnamese prime minister to China in seven years
China and Vietnam should manage their South China Sea dispute through dialogue and promote cooperation, Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday.
China is also willing to accelerate negotiations on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, Li said as he welcomed Chinh at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
“[We] should avoid taking any actions that would complicate and escalate the situation,” Li said.
According to China’s state broadcaster CCTV, Chinh said that Vietnam would strengthen its coordination with China in multilateral organisations such as the United Nations.
Li and Chinh also oversaw the signing of several agreements, including one on maritime cooperation.
Chinh’s visit to China is the first by a Vietnamese prime minister in seven years. He is leading a high-level government delegation which will attend the World Economic Forum, the so-called Summer Davos, in Tianjin from Tuesday to Thursday.
Li told Chinh that China would like to forge closer links with Vietnam’s development strategies through its own Belt and Road Initiative and a “bilateral cooperation leadership committee” established in 2006.
Key areas of cooperation, Li said, included law enforcement and security; trade and investment; science; education; culture and health. He added that railway connections, border port upgrades, agricultural trade, investment and energy were also topics of focus.
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The South China Sea dispute explained
Vietnam is China’s fourth-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade valued at US$175 billion in 2022, accounting for a quarter of the total trade between China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations members.
South China Sea disputes have been a primary obstacle to bilateral relations. Beijing claims most of the South China Sea through a “nine-dash line”, while Vietnam claims the entire Paracel and Spratly Islands.
Besides two brief naval battles in 1974 and 1988, the two sides also frequently engage in clashes or confrontations over fishing rights as well as oil and gas development.
The latest incident was reported last month when the coastguards of China and Vietnam had another stand-off near the Vanguard Bank – the westernmost reef in the resource-rich Spratlys – over Vietnam’s latest oil development plan.
The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the South China Sea. China and Asean countries are in talks on a legally binding Code of Conduct but progress is behind schedule. The second reading of text is expected to be completed this year.
