Hanoi/Nanning, August 20 (Xinhua) — Heart to heart closeness | China Vietnam pragmatic cooperation accelerates
One after another, the China Vietnam Express Customs Clearance Train (hereinafter referred to as the “China Vietnam Train”) loaded with Chinese products such as chemicals and mechanical equipment arrived at the Vietnamese security station; One car after another, Vietnam Durian and jackfruit successively cleared customs and entered the Chinese market from the Pingxiang Friendship Pass port in Guangxi; At the beginning of this month, a new train from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang in Vietnam was put into trial operation, and local passengers felt the advanced and comfortable “Made in China”; At the Confucius Institute at Hanoi University, the number of people taking the Chinese proficiency exam reached a new high in the first half of the year… Since the beginning of this year, China and Vietnam, which are connected by mountains and rivers, have accelerated on the road of practical cooperation and delivered an impressive report card.
On March 8, 2024, a China Vietnam train loaded with 340 tons of power towers departed from Nanning International Railway Port in Guangxi and headed to Hanoi, Vietnam. This is the first time that Guangxi has launched a special train for power towers. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cao Yiming
On August 19th, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping held talks with General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President Su Lin, who was on a state visit to China, on “actively exploring and expanding cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and the” Two Corridors and One Circle “framework,” accelerating the “hard connectivity” of railway, highway, and port infrastructure, “enhancing the” soft connectivity “of smart customs,” and “jointly building a safe and stable industrial and supply chain.
After the talks, both sides also witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents in areas such as party schools, connectivity, industry, finance, customs inspection and quarantine, health, news agencies and media, localities, and people’s livelihoods.
Hard connectivity drives up the heat of economic and trade investment
Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo stated that General Secretary Xi Jinping and President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to Vietnam in December last year was a complete success. Currently, both China and Vietnam are making every effort to implement the important consensus and joint statement reached by the top leaders of the two parties during this visit, achieving a series of important results and promoting a good start in building a strategically significant China Vietnam community with a shared future.
In Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, flower vendors are scattered throughout the streets and alleys during the day. The flower wholesale market at night is also bustling with traffic. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Tian
Gu Chaoqing, President of the Vietnam China Chamber of Commerce, told reporters that in the first seven months of this year, the export value of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to China has continued to rise, and the cooperation between the two sides in the fields of machinery and equipment, electronic products, etc. has become increasingly close. At the same time, China ranks first in the number of new investment projects attracted to Vietnam, which fully reflects the importance Chinese companies attach to the Vietnamese market. These projects have created a large number of local employment opportunities for industrial parks in Beijiang, Beining, Pingyang and other places.
China has maintained its position as Vietnam’s largest trading partner for many consecutive years, and Vietnam is China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN. Since the beginning of this year, the development momentum of China Vietnam economic and trade cooperation has been strong, with bilateral trade volume reaching 145 billion US dollars in the first seven months, an increase of over 20% compared to the same period last year.
With the continuous expansion of cooperation areas and the emergence of new growth points, cross-border freight transportation between China and Vietnam continues to operate at a high level. According to statistics, as of August 18th, the China Vietnam trains originating from Guangxi have sent a total of 7850 TEUs this year, a year-on-year increase of 15 times.
On December 9, 2023, people took the Jiling Hedong light rail line constructed by Chinese enterprises in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo by Cheng Yiheng, Xinhua News Agency reporter
Guangxi Tiejie Logistics Co., Ltd. exports automotive parts, ceramic capacitors and other products to Vietnam through the China Vietnam freight train. The company’s business manager Huang Hongjun told reporters that the China Vietnam train is “convenient, fast, and has lower transportation costs”, “enhancing the competitiveness of our products and also providing us with more opportunities to explore overseas markets”.
At the end of July, on the banks of the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City, a huge electronic screen was playing a TCL advertisement with the slogan “Where dreams begin”. This Chinese technology brand is celebrating its 25th anniversary of going global, and Vietnam is the first stop for TCL’s global layout.
Li Dongsheng, founder and chairman of TCL, said that while meeting the demands of the Vietnamese and ASEAN markets, TCL plans to further integrate resources in Vietnam and create a regional manufacturing and supply chain center that can radiate to Southeast Asia and even the European and American markets.
Nguyen Zengyi, Dean of the School of International Relations of the University of Humanities and Social Sciences under the National University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, told reporters that the interconnection of infrastructure such as railways and highways will accelerate the strategic docking and cooperation between Vietnam and China, better serve the economic development of both countries, and more benefit the people of both countries, while clean energy, e-commerce, logistics and other fields will serve as new growth points, and promote Vietnam China economic and trade cooperation to a new level.
‘Soft connectivity’ makes’ sweetness at both ends’ sweeter
Now is the peak season for Vietnam’s jackfruit, durian and other fruits. “We now import one or two containers of Vietnamese jackfruit and a dozen containers of Vietnamese durian from Youyi Pass every day,” Zhou Xianxia, a salesman of Guangxi Shenghang Import and Export Trade Co., Ltd., told reporters.
The Friendship Pass Port is located in Pingxiang City, Guangxi, and has witnessed the rapid growth of Vietnamese agricultural product exports to China since the beginning of this year. The sweetness from Vietnam enriches the taste buds of Chinese consumers, and the potential of the Chinese market also allows Vietnamese suppliers to taste the sweetness.
On September 15, 2023, a worker weighed durian at a durian processing plant in Dole Province, Vietnam. Shen Jizhong
According to statistics, in the first seven months of this year, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports to China reached 2.1 billion US dollars, accounting for 64% of Vietnam’s total fruit and vegetable exports. Among them, the export value of Vietnamese durian to China reached 1.22 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 46%, accounting for 92.4% of the total export value of Vietnamese durian.
Behind the phrase ‘sweet at both ends’, it cannot be separated from the support of inspection and quarantine policies and trade facilitation measures. At the Friendship Pass Port, the “Intelligent Inspection Assistance Management System” has reduced the waiting time for goods and improved inspection efficiency through digital means; Through the “intelligent quarantine processing system”, the digital and fully traceable quarantine process has replaced the “offline errand”.
At present, the construction of the China Vietnam Smart Port project is being comprehensively promoted, and after completion, it will improve the “smart index” of port traffic capacity, pressing the “acceleration button” for bilateral trade and investment. The Smart Port project, relying on satellite navigation and 5G technology, will achieve the integration and coordinated scheduling of container unmanned transportation vehicles, automated lifting equipment, container inspection systems, and intelligent drawing review systems, ultimately achieving 24-hour customs clearance for import and export goods between China and Vietnam, “said Gao Hui, Deputy Director of Youyi Customs.
‘Two way rush’ full of vitality
Vietnamese tourists enjoy Chinese hotpot at Fangchenggang in Guangxi and buy clothes at Pingxiang Pedestrian Street; Chinese tourists taste Vietnamese Rice noodles in Hanoi and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Vietnam in Ha Long Bay… In the first half of this year, the “two-way travel” of China Vietnam cross-border tourism is full of vitality.
This summer, Huang Yaolin from Guangdong, China and her friends made plans to travel to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Five years ago, when I first came to Vietnam for tourism, I only had time to travel in the north and central regions. This time, I specifically came to the south to complete a complete ‘time travel’ journey. Compared to five years ago, Chinese prompts can now be seen at many scenic spots and restaurants, and hotels have Chinese speaking staff, enhancing the travel experience for Chinese tourists.
On March 15, 2023, Vietnamese staff welcomed Chinese tourists with fresh flowers at the Friendship International Port in Lang Son Province, Vietnam. Photo by Hu Jiali, Xinhua News Agency reporter
According to the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, in May of this year, Vietnam received 357000 Chinese tourists, making China the largest source of inbound tourism to Vietnam.
The basic conditions of port transportation continue to improve, with fast inspection and accelerated customs clearance efficiency, which also continues to drive the popularity of China Vietnam “border tourism”. Dongxing City in Fangchenggang is only separated from Mang Street in Vietnam by a river. Fangchenggang Dongxing Port is an important port witnessing the “two-way travel” of Chinese and Vietnamese tourists.
On September 8, 2023, citizens dined at a Vietnamese noodle shop in Nanning, Guangxi. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Xingyu
On August 17th, shortly after the opening of the port, Vietnamese tour guide Nguyen Thi Jin led a tour group through customs and began their journey to China. China is one of the favorite tourist destinations for Vietnamese tourists, “she said. Now, she brings two or three tour groups to China every week.” Many people are very satisfied with their travel experience and even recommend it to their relatives and friends after returning home.
Vietnamese tourist Liang Shixing visited Dongxing for two days and was still unsatisfied: “The scenery here is beautiful, the environment is good, and it’s convenient. You can quickly return to Vietnam through Dongxing Port
On July 5, 2024, Vietnamese tourists rode by the Erhai Lake in Dali. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xiansi
At the end of December last year, the Fangchenggang Dongxing Railway in Guangxi was put into operation, and Dongxing City, a border city between China and Vietnam, was connected to the national railway network from then on. More and more Vietnamese tourists are choosing to take this high-speed rail line and transfer to other tourist destinations in China.
Drinking from the same river, seeing each other in the morning, gazing at each other in the evening, and listening to the rooster singing loudly in the morning “is a touching melody that sings of the neighborly friendship between China and Vietnam, which is connected by mountains and rivers. With the further improvement of connectivity and the expansion of trade and investment, the “two-way rush” between China and Vietnam will be more active and broad, and the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Vietnam will continue to deepen and become more practical.