China and Vietnam sign 14 documents to advance practical cooperation

China and Vietnam have achieved fourteen agreements during the top Vietnamese leader’s state visit to China from Sunday to Tuesday.

On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese president, in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

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Following the meetings, the two parties saw the signing of 14 cooperation agreements between the two nations’ ministries, agencies, and communities.

All of the documents are about practical collaboration in numerous domains such as connectivity and infrastructure, healthcare, customs, media, and people’s livelihoods.

Connectivity is one of the most often used buzzwords. During his discussions with his Vietnamese counterpart, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that China will expand “hard connectivity” of railway, expressway, and port facilities while also enhancing “soft connectivity” of smart customs.

Documents related to many railway projects have been signed to advance collaboration, including aid projects for Vietnam in the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong standard gauge railway, as well as two more standard gauge railway routes from Lang Son to Hanoi and Mong Cai to Ha Long to Hanoi.

China has been Vietnam’s major economic partner since 2004, and Vietnam is China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN.

In the first seven months of 2024, China-Vietnam freight trains traveling from south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region transported a total of 6,850 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers of products. It represents a 16-fold rise year after year.

The collaboration of these “hard connectivity” is intended to aid ease trade and develop a more reliable industrial and supply chains.

The two countries are also promoting greater collaboration in quarantine and health care. According to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) of Vietnam and the General Administration of Customs China (GACC) have signed 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. According to the VNA, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) and the National Health Commission of China also inked a memorandum of cooperation on healthcare collaboration.

On Monday, agreements for collaboration between the two nations’ news agencies, broadcasters, and journalist groups were also inked to improve communication.

When the Chinese President paid an official visit to Vietnam in December of last year, 36 papers were signed, with the goal of advancing cooperation in railroads and other areas, including the construction of communication systems to respond to marine crises and events.

The 14 agreements reached are little milestones along the path to cooperation between China and Vietnam, but they represent steady progress toward the establishment of a China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and a community with a shared future for humanity.