Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong arrives at Beijing International Airport (Photo: VNA)In an interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondentsin Beijing, Ling Dequan, a researcher at the Xinhua News Agency’s Centre forWorld Affairs Studies, said Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is the mosthigh-ranking foreign leader that the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the ChineseState has welcomed in 2017.
Chinais also the first country that the CPV leader has visited this year, Ling said,adding that this shows that leaders of the two Parties and States have attachedimportance to strengthening and enhancing the Vietnam-China neighbourliness andfriendship.
The visit is taking place at a time when the twocountries are celebrating the 67th founding anniversary of diplomatic relationsand the Vietnamese and Chinese people are preparing for the Lunar New Year –their biggest holiday in the year, he noted.
Ling, who is member of the China-VietnamFriendship Association and former head of the Xinhua News Agency Bureau inVietnam, described the Vietnamese Party leader’s visit, which is made at theinvitation of General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President XiJinping, as a“Spring-welcoming trip” in which the word of “Spring” also symbolises betterprospects for the Vietnam-China relationship.
He stressed that, thanks to the efforts of bothsides, Vietnam-China relations have developed well in the recent past, while theirtraditional friendship has been reinforced and their cooperative ties havereaped positive results in many fields.
In 2016, Vietnam and China continued maintainingthe exchange of regular visits by high-level Party and State leaders and increasingmutual political trust. The cooperation and and exchanges at all levels and invarious spheres such as politics, economy and culture, were promoted, bringingpractical benefits to the two nations’ people, he said.
While evaluating the potential and prospects forVietnam-China relations, Ling said the two Parties and States are facing new issuesand challenges due to complicated developments in the region and the world.
In that context, the two countries need to coordinatetogether, maintain high-level visits, promote strategic connectivity, fostermutually beneficial cooperation and increase cultural exchanges, with a view toelevating the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to a new height,he suggested.
As the two economies are closely connected, theresearcher said China wants to enhance cooperation with Vietnam ininfrastructure development, investment and trade within the strategic frameworkof “One Belt, One Road” and “Two Corridors and One Economic Belt”, he said.
According to the researcher, the APEC Year 2017 isan important diplomatic event, offering a good opportunity for the host countryof Vietnam to review its accomplishments after 30 years of “Doi Moi” (renewal),as well as its influence and position in the global arena.
As an important member of the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) Forum and a friendly neighbour of Vietnam, Chinawill support and coordinate with Vietnam to successfully organise the event./.
VNA
