Ho Chi Minh City places importance to cooperating and promoting ties with Chinese localities and investors, Le Thanh Hai, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, has said.

Hai, who is also a Politburo member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, made the statement in HCM City on December 21 while receiving a delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) delegation, led by Wang Jiarui, member of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference and head of the CPC Central Committee’s International Department.

He described Wang’s current visit to Vietnam, which was started on December 18, as helping realise and deepen the two countries’ bilateral ties.

Hai briefed the guest on the city’s socio-economic development, adding that more than 300 Chinese businesses have invested nearly 300 million USD in HCM City. In trade, the city exported to China 1 billion USD and imported from the country over 2.6 billion USD.

He said he hopes Wang, in his post, will help further promote friendship between the two Parties and facilitate localities and businesses of both sides in economics, and front and organisation affairs.

For his part, Wang said he was impressed by the city’s rapid development.

He highly valued the city’s contribution to Vietnam’s development in the context of the global economic crisis, and wished the city further successes in the coming time.-VNA