Vietnamese Ambassador to China: China's Development is Vietnam's Opportunity

On the 26th, Vietnamese Ambassador to China, Ning Chenggong, told Global Times reporters that China's development is an opportunity for Vietnam, and Vietnam's reform and opening up is also an opportunity for China. The complementarity between Vietnam and China is very strong, which is the foundation for cooperation and achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. The Vietnamese diplomat also stated that Vietnam and China are resolving their maritime differences through friendly negotiations, and their differences in the South China Sea will not affect their cooperation.
On December 26th, the Vietnamese Embassy in China held the "2023 Vietnamese Chinese Media Meeting" in Beijing. Vietnamese Embassy Minister Ning Chenggong delivered a speech at the meeting, stating that 2023 is a very important year for both the Vietnamese and Chinese parties, as well as the 15th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. With the joint efforts of both sides, Vietnam China relations continue to maintain a stable development momentum and have achieved many important results.
On December 12th, the General Administration of Customs released data showing that bilateral trade between China and Vietnam has continued to maintain a good development momentum. The total import and export value of goods between China and Vietnam in the first 11 months of this year was 1.45 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. Among them, the import and export value of goods between China and Vietnam in November was 161.92 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.5%, and the scale reached a monthly historical high. Ning Chenggong stated that international trade has encountered many difficulties and declining situations this year, but Vietnam's trade cooperation with China remains relatively stable. "Many people didn't expect Vietnam to become China's fourth largest trading partner, only behind the United States, South Korea, and Japan."
On the same day, Ning Chenggong stated in an interview with Global Times reporters on the sidelines that in 2024, Vietnam will further promote cooperation with China in areas such as cultural exchanges and tourism, including hosting important events to promote Vietnamese tourism in China. He also hopes that China will create convenient conditions for more Vietnamese tourists to travel to China.

He introduced that the two countries have basically resumed flights on various routes, with over 200 flights between the two countries per week. In the first 11 months of this year, Vietnam received 1.5 million Chinese tourists, and it is expected that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam will continue to increase in the future. "We hope that the number of tourists from both countries visiting each other can recover to before 2019 as soon as possible." He introduced that in 2019 before the epidemic, Vietnam received 6 million Chinese tourists, accounting for one-third of the total inbound tourists to Vietnam.

Ning Chenggong also talked to reporters about the recent United Nations listing the Spring Festival as an official holiday. He expressed that he is pleased to see the United Nations make this decision. Vietnam and China have very similar cultures, and he believes that this will provide more international friends with the opportunity to learn about the Spring Festival, a common traditional festival between the two countries. It will also promote more international tourists to visit Vietnam and China during the Spring Festival period.
When discussing the maritime differences between China and Vietnam, Ning Chenggong told Global Times reporters that the two countries have reached a consensus to control their differences and maintain maritime peace and stability in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. At the same time, he actively promotes various consultation mechanisms on maritime issues, comprehensively and effectively implements the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and strives to achieve substantive results as soon as possible on the basis of consensus The "Code of Conduct for the South China Sea" that is effective and in compliance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, states, "We cannot let maritime issues affect our cooperation, but must resolve differences through friendly negotiations."
"At present, the relationship between the two countries is at the highest level in history, and there is still great potential and development space to further promote cooperation between the two sides." Ning Chenggong stated that Vietnam supports the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, global development initiatives, global security initiatives, and global civilization initiatives. The above concepts and initiatives aim to safeguard the common interests of all mankind and contribute to the cause of peace, justice, and progress of the world's people, It reflects the aspirations of people from all countries to jointly build a better world.