Wang's Vietnam visit focuses on ties, South China Sea

Beijing and Hanoi should continue to enhance mutual trust, manage differences through friendly consultations and "safeguard the hard-won peace and stability in the South China Sea", Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday.

Wang made the comment when holding the 15th meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in Hanoi, Vietnam, together with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang.

At the meeting, the two sides reviewed the progress in bilateral cooperation in all fields, defined work directions for the next stage, and reached a new consensus on strengthening cooperation and promoting the sound and steady development of China-Vietnam relations in all fields.

Wang expressed the hope that the two countries would practice genuine multilateralism, support each other on issues of major interest to each other, and actively advance maritime cooperation.

The two sides should maintain high-level strategic communication, strengthen cooperation mechanisms in areas such as national defense and public security, and deepen cooperation in non-traditional security areas such as counter-terrorism and combating telecommunications fraud, he said.

The two countries should deepen cooperation in fields including economy and trade, connectivity and minerals, strengthen cultural exchanges, facilitate people-to-people exchanges and enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples, he added.

The Vietnamese deputy prime minister said Vietnam supports China's development and growth as well as its playing a more important role in maintaining regional and world peace and stability.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is in Vietnam from Friday to Saturday.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Vietnam.

In a separate meeting on Friday with Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, Wang said China appreciates that the Vietnamese side has always made its relations with China a strategic choice and top priority in Vietnam's diplomacy.

China has also prioritized its relations with Vietnam as a priority of its neighborhood diplomacy, Wang added.

Trong said Vietnam-China relations are constantly developing, which fully meets the aspirations of the Vietnamese people.

While meeting with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong on Friday, Wang said China is ready to take coordinated steps in the next stage of cooperation with Vietnam in all fields to ensure steady progress in the building of a China-Vietnam community of shared future.

The Vietnamese president said the two countries can reinforce complementarity in seeking strategic synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Two Corridors and One Economic Circle plan, and work more closely together in energy transition and critical infrastructure.

In a talk with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on Friday, Wang said the two countries should actively promote mutually beneficial cooperation in the South China Sea and "prevent the intervention of forces from outside the region".

The two sides should speed up consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea so as to make the South China Sea a sea of peace and cooperation, he added.

Son said the Vietnamese side is willing to work with China to maintain peace and stability at sea in accordance with the high-level consensus reached between the two countries.

The Vietnamese side is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Chinese side in international and regional affairs and support the building of a global community of shared future, he said.

China's concepts and initiatives are in line with the spirit of the United Nations Charter and the aspirations of all countries to build a better world, and are conducive to the cause of peace and progress for humankind, Son added.