Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli is one of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. His visit demonstrates efforts to maintain regular contact between high-level leaders of the two countries.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. Photo: THX

The official visit to Vietnam in mid-July by Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli is the next high-level exchange and meeting between the two countries' leaders in the year marking the 25th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral relations.

Just a month ago, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh also visited Beijing to hold the 8th session of the Vietnam-China Bilateral Cooperation Steering Committee.

In a statement, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli's visit will take place from July 16-18. Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli is one of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. His visit demonstrates efforts to maintain regular contact between high-level leaders of the two countries.

Previously, the official visit to China from April 7-10 by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong – the latest visit to China by the highest-ranking leader of the Vietnamese Communist Party since 2011 – showed an increased frequency of visits by high-level leaders of the two countries in the year marking the special milestone of 25 years of establishing bilateral relations.

While there has been no official preliminary announcement regarding Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli's work schedule, one of the key agenda items for the visit will undoubtedly be the South China Sea issue, alongside other important bilateral matters in various fields.

Regarding the South China Sea issue, observing the developments "after the 981 oil rig incident," it can be seen that Vietnam and China have joined forces to find a fundamental and long-term solution to the problem, without affecting the overall bilateral relationship. The frequent visits by leaders and officials of both countries demonstrate a spirit of frank confrontation and finding solutions to the issue.

To date, both sides have consistently emphasized the need to adhere to the important common understanding reached between the high-level leaders of the two Parties and two countries, seriously implement the "Agreement on the Basic Principles Guiding the Resolution of the Maritime Issues between Vietnam and China"; and at the same time, make good use of the government-level negotiation mechanism on the Vietnam-China territorial border, persistently seeking fundamental and long-term solutions acceptable to both sides through negotiations; and jointly manage disagreements at sea effectively.

Vietnam's stance is to consistently call on China not to complicate the situation at sea and to resolve disagreements on the basis of international law, specifically the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In all meetings at all levels with the Chinese side, Vietnamese leaders have consistently affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to the stable development of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China, practically promoting cooperation in various fields, effectively managing disagreements at sea, preventing them from affecting the development trend of bilateral relations, and contributing to maintaining peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.

(According to VNN)