Vietnam has requested China to create favorable conditions for the establishment of a consulate general in China’s Chongqing and trade promotion offices in Sichuan and Hainan provinces, according to a Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announcement made on Friday.

Vietnam’s Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu put forward this suggestion during his recent visit to Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday this week.

During the two-day trip, Deputy Minister Vu met with Chinese Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Nong Rong, and Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency Luo Zhaohui.

According to Vu, the trade promotion offices of Vietnam would be located in Sichuan’s Chengdu City and Hainan’s Haikou City.

He also called on the Chinese side to offer favorable conditions for Vietnam to soon open its consulate general in Chongqing.

Located in the southwestern region, Chongqing is one of the municipalities in China.

It spans an area of over 82,000 square meters and has a population of more than 30 million people.

Vietnam’s Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu (L) holds talks with Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency Luo Zhaohui. Photo: Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The top Vietnamese diplomat asked both sides to jointly adopt measures to speed up economic recovery, especially boosting customs clearance to pave the way for more Vietnamese agricultural products to be shipped to China.

Both sides should expand cooperation and remove obstacles hindering some of their cooperation projects, such as those to expand the Thai Nguyen iron and steel plant and the Ninh Binh nitrogenous fertilizer plant in northern Vietnam.

The two nations will facilitate the implementation of China’s non-refundable aid packages for Vietnam and agreed to maintain frequent meetings between the foreign ministries’ leaders.

Both sides also agreed to continue enhancing cooperation to facilitate the execution of high-level common perceptions, and work closely together to prepare for upcoming high-level exchanges and meetings.

In addition, they will bolster up exchanges and cooperation between Parties, governments, parliaments, as well as collaboration in the fields of national defense, security, and law enforcement; promote the opening, upgrade and recognition of some border gate pairs in an attempt to tighten their economic, trade, cultural, and people-to-people ties.

Regarding border and territorial issues, the two sides exchanged their points of view in an open and frank manner and put forward specific measures for better collaboration in land border management.

As for sea-related issues, both sides concurred that they will continue strict adherence to the high-level common perceptions and their agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues, aside from properly controlling water-related disputes and jointly maintaining peace and stability in the East Vietnam Sea. 

Further, Deputy Minister Vu underlined the need to respect the rights and legitimate interests of coastal countries on par with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!