China and Vietnam yesterday inked 14 documents spanning cross-border railways to crocodile exports after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met with new Vietnamese leader To Lam in Beijing.
The Vietnamese president’s visit to Beijing, his first overseas trip since becoming the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam earlier this month, signals a desire between the two communist neighbors to strengthen ties, amid growing trade and investment, despite occasional clashes over boundaries in the South China Sea.
“China has always regarded Vietnam as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, and supports Vietnam in adhering to the party leadership, taking the socialist path suited to its national conditions, and deepening the cause of reforms and socialist modernization,” Xi said at the meeting.
Photo: AP
“I believe that our road will expand wider as we walk further,” said Xi, who underscored establishing good working relations and personal friendship with Lam.
Lam described the bilateral ties as a “top priority in Vietnam’s external policy” and called his trip to China “the affirmation of the party and the Vietnamese government to value the relation with China.”
The two countries then signed documents on planning and feasibility studies for standardized railway routes, in what appears as a new step toward the upgrade of cross-border rail links, after preliminary deals on the matter were signed in December last year during Xi’s state visit to Hanoi.
In a lengthy joint declaration in December, both countries said they would work on cross-border railway connectivity, naming three rail projects that included one connecting through mountainous Lao Cai in Vietnam’s northwest to the port city Haiphong and a potential one linking China’s Shenzhen to Haiphong.
Vietnamese officials had said rail links would be high on the agenda when the top leaders meet.
The two nations are connected by two railways from southern China to Vietnam’s northern industrial hub and capital, Hanoi, but the Vietnamese infrastructure dates back to French colonization and has a different gauge from Chinese high-speed rail, forcing passengers and goods to swap trains at the border.
Upgrading the Vietnamese side of the railways could boost trade and investment, as a growing number of Chinese manufacturers move some export-oriented operations to Vietnam amid trade tensions between China and the US.
Other documents signed covered cooperation between central banks, media, health, and the quarantine and inspection of coconuts, crocodiles and durians.
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