Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh talked over the phone with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday, on the occasion of the 72nd founding anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties (January 18, 1950 – 2022).
During the talks, the two Prime Minister agreed that in 2021 the Vietnam-China relationship continued to grow. Despite the pandemic, two-way trade reached a new record of 160 billion USD and the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line came into operation. The two sides worked closely to ease congestion of farm produce at border gates. Their cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 is the spotlight in bilateral ties, noted the two Prime Ministers.
Regarding the goods congestion at border gates, PM Chinh underlined that both sides should coordinate closely and adopt effective and drastic solutions to this problem, thus ensuring smooth trading and maintaining supply and production chains between the two countries as well as in the region, particularly in the coming Lunar New Year holiday.
He asked China to continue increasing imports and accelerate the opening of its market to some agricultural products of Vietnam.
In terms of border and territorial affairs, PM Chinh asked the two sides to keep effectively implementing the three documents on the Vietnam – China land border; further bring into play negotiation mechanisms to sustain peace and stability in the East Sea; respect each other’s legitimate and legal interests that are in line with international law, properly handle sea-related issues in accordance with the high-level common perceptions and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; and actively boost talks so as to soon finalise a substantive and effective Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea matching international law.
Premier Li highlighted his attention to Vietnam’s recommendations about economic, trade, and investment links, considering this as an important field in bilateral cooperation.
He ordered relevant ministries, sectors, and localities of China to settle the issue, and suggested both sides set up a joint working group to continue dealing with it, thereby facilitating Vietnamese farm products’ entry into China and maintain the trade flow.
The Chinese leader expressed his hope that the negotiation mechanisms on sea-related issues between the two countries will be stepped up so that substantive progress is obtained, adding that his country is ready to join Vietnam and other ASEAN countries in striving to reach a COC early.
During the talks, the leaders agreed to maintain channels of discussion about land border and sea-related issues, promote consensus, iron out differences, and maintain common peace and stability.
Source: VOV5