Xi urges implementation of China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, holds talks with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, Dec. 13, 2023. [Xinhua/Ju Peng]

HANOI -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, said here Wednesday that China and Vietnam should join hands to build a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.

To achieve that, the two sides should strengthen political guidance, enhance solidarity and cooperation, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, better communicate with the people and properly manage differences, Xi made the remarks in talks with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong.

Xi noted that on Tuesday he and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong jointly announced the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, raising the relations between the two parties and two countries up to a new stage.

The Chinese and Vietnamese people have fought side by side in their struggles for national independence and liberation, and supported each other in the cause of socialist revolution and construction, Xi said, noting that such a commitment to each other through thick and thin has forged a friendship featuring "camaraderie plus brotherhood."

To build a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance is to renew the shared will of the older generation of leaders of the two parties and countries, to pay tribute to the heroic past, and to carry forward the revolutionary friendship between the two countries, Xi said.

It is also a major historic decision made by the leadership of the two parties and countries, bearing in mind the larger interests of the long-term development of China-Vietnam relations and the strategic overall picture of solidarity of socialist forces in the world, and it meets the common needs of China and Vietnam to advance their respective modernization and serves the common interests of the two peoples, he added.

Xi stressed that the two sides need to fully appreciate the historical imperative, strategic significance, immediate necessity and international responsibilities of building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future. Focusing on the six major goals of greater political mutual trust, more substantive security cooperation, deeper practical cooperation, more solid popular foundation, closer multilateral coordination and collaboration, and more proper management of differences, the two sides need to continue to develop the bilateral relationship in new historical contexts, and jointly advance the China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance to bring about more benefits to the two peoples.

Xi then underscored the following points:

First, it is important to strengthen political guidance and rally strategic consensus on building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future. The leadership of the two parties and countries need to continue to maintain in-depth strategic communication through flexible ways, increase mutual learning, deepen the exchange of experience in party and state governance, and jointly improve the modernization of the system and capacity for governance to better serve the development of their respective countries.

Second, it is important to enhance solidarity and coordination to safeguard the China-Vietnam community with a shared future. China and Vietnam are both socialist countries under the leadership of a communist party. It is their shared responsibility and mission to safeguard the security of the political system and defend the cause of socialism. The two sides should strengthen solidarity, stay committed to openness and mutual benefits, jointly guard against external infiltration and sabotage attempts, and make due contributions to strengthening world socialist forces and promoting peace and the progress of humanity.

Third, it is important to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation to make the pie of interests bigger for the China-Vietnam community with a shared future. The two sides need to strengthen top-level design, ensure the sound implementation of the outline program for synergizing the Belt and Road Initiative and the Two Corridors and One Economic Circle strategy, speed up infrastructure connectivity, and expand the export of quality agricultural products from Vietnam to China. Cooperation should also be enhanced in the digital economy and green development to explore new growth drivers for bilateral practical cooperation.

Fourth, it is important to better communicate with the people and build a stronger social foundation for the China-Vietnam community with a shared future. It is important to take a systematic approach to advance people-to-people friendship between China and Vietnam. We should step up public awareness campaigns on the traditional friendship between the two countries and two parties, make good use of culture, tourism, sub-national cooperation and other platforms to build more bridges for exchange between the two peoples, especially between the younger generation, to deepen mutual understanding and friendship.

Fifth, it is important to properly manage differences and ensure a more stable expectation on the China-Vietnam community with a shared future. As important coastal countries of the South China Sea, China and Vietnam share common interests and shoulder common responsibilities in safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea. China will strengthen communication and coordination with Vietnam to find long-term solutions to maritime issues that both sides can accept, work with all parties for an early conclusion on a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and make greater contributions to regional peace and stability.

For his part, President Vo Van Thuong said that Xi's state visit to Vietnam is a major event long-expected by the CPV, the government of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people, and a major historic event in Vietnam-China relations.

Noting that the general secretaries of the two parties agreed to build a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance on Tuesday, he said that this has set the direction for the future development of the bilateral relationship and will surely take it to a new stage of higher-level development.

The profound traditional friendship between Vietnam and China, forged by the older generation of the two sides, has stood the test of the evolving international dynamics and become a shared asset of the two peoples, he added.

Amid the complex transformation of the international landscape, both Vietnam and China are at a critical development stage, the president said, adding that it is therefore the shared aspiration of the Vietnamese and Chinese people to consolidate and strengthen the trust and cooperation between the two parties and two countries, and continuously advance the socialist cause of the two countries.

Under the irreplaceable strategic guidance of Trong and Xi, the Vietnam-China relationship has never been so comprehensive, profound and friendly as it is today, Vo Van Thuong said.

The Vietnamese side, he said, hopes that Xi's visit will send a clear message to the world once again, that developing relations with China has always been a top priority and strategic choice for the CPV and the government of Vietnam.

The Vietnam-China relationship is as solid as rock and no external force can sow discord, disrupt or undermine this bilateral relationship, he said.

Vo Van Thuong once again congratulated China on the success of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and expressed confidence that under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at its core and the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, China will surely achieve the goals set at the 20th CPC National Congress.

Highlighting China's development and success will be a huge inspiration and support for Vietnam, the president said that the Vietnamese side will earnestly implement the important consensus of the general secretaries of the two parties, fully leverage the unique advantage of the two countries in sharing the same social system and similar ideals and philosophies, strengthen experience exchange in the party and state governance, comprehensively advance practical cooperation in various fields including politics, economy and trade, people-to-people exchanges and security, uphold national political security, and facilitate industrialization and modernization.

Vietnam is committed to the one-China policy and sincerely supports China's reunification, he said.

The Vietnamese side stands ready to properly address maritime differences under the spirit of mutual respect and win-win cooperation and push for the steady progress of the Vietnam-China community with a shared future, he added.

Noting that the initiatives on global development, security and civilization proposed by President Xi demonstrate the sense of responsibility of a major country and a major party, as well as China's important role in leading international development and cooperation, Vo Van Thuong said Vietnam is ready to be actively involved and will enhance international coordination with China to jointly make new contributions to world peace and stability and the progress and well-being of humanity. 

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, holds talks with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, Dec. 13, 2023. [Xinhua/Ju Peng]

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, holds talks with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, Dec. 13, 2023. [Xinhua/Liu Weibing]