Hanoi (VNA) – President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Phan Anh Son on July 16 hosted a reception for Wei Ran, Director General of the Foreign Affairs Office and President of the People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, during which the two sides discussed ways to strengthen locality-to-locality collaboration in the new situation.
Briefing the guest on the recent diplomatic events between the two countries, which are celebrating the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, Son stressed that as people-to-people diplomacy is identified as a vital channel contributing significantly to the Vietnam – China relations, his organisation has made efforts to nurture the robust friendship between the two peoples.
Wei, for his part, said his visit aims at implementing the high-level agreements reached during recent mutual visits, including the trip to Vietnam by Chen Gang, Secretary of the Communist Party of China Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. He added that it also seeks to explore measures for enhancing cooperation between Guangxi and Vietnamese localities, contributing to the Vietnam – China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.
He noted that Vietnam has recently undergone administrative restructuring by streamlining apparatus and merging local administrative units, which poses new requirements regarding cooperation between the countries' localities, especially their twin cities and provinces. Given this, he asked VUFO to propose initiatives that can maintain the sound partnerships between localities in this new context.
Drawing parallels to China’s administrative overhaul in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Son held that China's streamlining efforts achieved remarkable results in subsequent years. He emphasised that both countries share similarities in their development processes and can exchange valuable experiences with each other amidst rapid changes in the global and regional situations as well as the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Regarding practical steps to enhance local-level collaboration, Son suggested Guangxi send letters or diplomatic notes to Vietnamese localities to maintain the established twinning ties, adding VUFO stands ready to support the efforts./.
Cao Bang province enhances relationship with China’s Guangxi
The two sides should accelerate the construction of a "smart border gate" model to facilitate and improve the efficiency of customs clearance; promote technology transfer to apply smart and high technologies in growing fruit trees; promote and introduce specialty products, OCOP (one commune one product) products, and typical industrial products.
