Lai Chau (VNA) - The fifth annual conference between the Secretaries of the Party Committees of Vietnam’s Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, and Dien Bien provinces, and Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Yunnan provincial Committee Wang Ning took place in Lai Chau on October 30.
The two sides reached consensus on strengthening friendship, expanding practical cooperation, deepening partnership, and enhancing people-to-people exchanges, which are expected to create strong momentum for them to foster cooperation in culture, sports, and tourism.
They also targeted stronger collaboration in border trade, investment, border gate infrastructure, transport connectivity, border management, and crime combat. Cooperation in industry, agriculture, forestry, science and technology, healthcare, environmental protection, justice, and finance, is also expected to grow further.
Vietnamese Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu called on both sides to fully harness their local strengths, promote joint development, and create conditions for businesses to meet, seek partnerships, and engage in enterprise forums. He urged greater efforts to remove bottlenecks, raise bilateral trade to new heights, build a peaceful, stable border, and step up exchanges between residents.
Secretary of Lai Chau province's Party Committee Le Minh Ngan emphasised that the conference provided an important platform for localities to concretise further the shared understanding reached between the high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and States, thereby strengthening practical cooperation and elevating the Vietnam–China relationship to new heights, for peace, stability, and common prosperity in the region and the world.
Reviewing progress since the fourth annual conference, he noted comprehensive cooperation results in a wide range of spheres. For 2026 and beyond, Ngan proposed continuing to implement the shared outcomes of the April 2025 state visit to Vietnam by Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, particularly the Vietnam–China Joint Statement on continuing to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and promoting the building of the Vietnam-China Community with a Shared Future that Carries Strategic Significance.
He suggested that both sides intensify the implementation of signed cooperation agreements based on equality and mutual benefit, while strengthening mutual visits and exchanges, and accelerating key projects, including rail links and smart border gates.
At the meeting, Wang expressed his commitment to strengthening cooperation between the two sides, expanding economic and trade links, and deepening people-to-people exchanges. He called for stronger transport connectivity, expanded cooperation in green energy and smart border gate development, and more favourable conditions for businesses to engage in joint surveys and investments.
The officials agreed to hold the sixth edition in Yunnan province in 2026./.
