During a recent meeting between Foreign Ministers Bui Thanh Son of Vietnam and Wang Yi of China, the need for stronger implementation of high-level agreements and common perceptions was emphasized in order to promote bilateral relations in a “6 more” orientation. This meeting took place in Guangxi, China as part of Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son’s visit to China on April 3-4. This marked the first official discussion between the two ministers since Vietnam and China upgraded their Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and agreed to build a strategically meaningful Community of Shared Future.
The importance of the Vietnam – China relationship in each country’s foreign policy was reaffirmed during the meeting, with an emphasis on coordination and effective deployment of high-level agreements and common perceptions to further enhance the relationship in a stable and sustainable manner according to the “6 more” orientation as stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The two countries have proposed six major cooperation directions during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s official visit to Vietnam in December 2023. These include enhancing political trust, defense and security cooperation, substantive cooperation, social foundation, multilateral coordination, and dispute control and resolution. Additionally, both sides agreed to continue organizing dialogue, exchange, and cooperation mechanisms in various fields while promoting economic and trade cooperation, transportation connections, socio-economic exchanges, and cooperation between China and Southeast Asia.
In regards to maritime issues, the importance of implementing agreements and common awareness among leaders on controlling disagreements was emphasized. Minister Bui Thanh Son proposed promoting sustainable economic trade cooperation by increasing imports of Vietnamese products while facilitating transportation connections. On the other hand, Foreign Minister Wang Yi suggested strengthening the connection between the “Belt and Road” initiative