The General Secretary's visit to China is of utmost importance.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China has extremely important significance and influence on Vietnam-China relations in the new period.

At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong will pay an official visit to the People's Republic of China from January 12-15.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to China - Dang Minh Khoi answered an interview about the context, purpose and significance of the visit.

Ambassador Dang Minh Khoi answers the interview.

PV:The two countries are about to celebrate the 67th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. Could you please give a general assessment of the Vietnam-China relationship in recent times?

Ambassador Dang Minh Khoi:In just a few days, we will celebrate the 67th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and China (January 18, 1950 - January 18, 2017). Over the past 67 years, especially in recent years, Vietnam - China relations have developed strongly in all fields.

The first thing to note is that the political relationship between the two countries has developed and strengthened. This is clearly demonstrated through high-level visits as well as joint documents issued by both sides on the occasion of high-level visits. The two countries established a comprehensive strategic partnership framework in 2008 based on the spirit of the "sixteen words" and the motto of "four goods".

Second, it is worth noting that over the past 67 years, the two countries have made efforts through negotiations to resolve the problems and issues that have existed in the bilateral relationship. We and China have resolved the land border issue and completed all demarcation and marker planting work in 2008.

Currently, the Vietnam-China border is a peaceful and friendly border, and the people of both sides are the ones who benefit the most from this border agreement. In 2000, we and China signed the Agreement on the Delimitation of the Gulf of Tonkin. We have also resolved maritime issues with all neighboring countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, but the maritime delimitation with China can be said to have made very important progress.

Third, economic and trade cooperation has made remarkable progress. In 1991, when the two countries normalized relations, the trade turnover between the two sides was only 37 million USD. In 2001, the trade turnover between the two sides was only 3 billion USD, and now it has made remarkable progress, reaching nearly 100 billion USD.

Fourth, people-to-people exchanges have developed very strongly. Every year, about 3 million people from the two countries travel to each other. The number of international students is also very large, currently there are nearly 10,000 Vietnamese students studying in China, while China has about 3,000 international students in Vietnam. International students are the future ambassadors of the friendly relations between the two nations.

PV:General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will pay an official visit to China from January 12-15. According to the Ambassador, what is the significance of this visit in promoting relations between the two countries?

Ambassador Dang Minh Khoi:At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong will pay an official visit to China from January 12-15.

This visit is of great significance, as this is the first time the General Secretary has visited China as General Secretary since the successful 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in early 2016. This is the third time General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has visited China as General Secretary. This visit coincides with the two countries preparing to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and welcome the New Year of the Rooster 2017.

In recent years, with the efforts of both sides, the relationship between Vietnam and China has developed strongly in all areas: politics, economy, culture, people-to-people exchange, while the two sides have also strengthened the maintenance of peace and stability in the East Sea. This visit is the first visit by a foreign guest to China during the New Year. We hope that this visit will create new momentum, bringing the relationship between the two countries to develop even more strongly.

In my opinion, the most important thing in the relationship between our two Parties and countries is how to continuously strengthen and consolidate the traditional friendly neighborly relationship and further enhance political trust between the two sides. If we have trust, it is easy to discuss any issue, but if there is still fear and suspicion of each other, it is very difficult to discuss any issue. I think this is the overall goal of the General Secretary's visit this time, to discuss with the highest-ranking leaders of China, at the highest level, to further strengthen and consolidate the political relationship between the two sides.

Second, this visit also aims to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, especially when both countries are in a key stage, constantly deepening innovation, reform and opening up. We are entering the second year of implementing the Resolution of the 12th Party Congress, China is entering the final year of preparing for the 19th Party Congress, the development task is extremely important for the two countries and the two peoples, especially in the context of the extremely difficult world economy, this is a very important focus.

Third, this visit is also an opportunity to further enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two sides. During the visit, the General Secretary will attend a reception to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and will have in-depth and extensive meetings with many Chinese personalities as well as those who have relations and affection for Vietnam to express the wish of our Party and State to further enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two sides.

Fourthly, in the context of the international and regional situation evolving rapidly and complicatedly, even with many uncertainties and unpredictable things, this visit, we hope to further strengthen the maintenance of peace and stability in the East Sea, thereby maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world, contributing to enhancing the external environment of our country to be favorable for focusing on economic development. This is the extremely important meaning of this visit.

This visit by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will be the highest-level visit of our Party and State leader to China since the 12th Party Congress and will include the highest-level meeting between the two sides, thus having extremely important significance and influence on Vietnam-China relations in the new period.

PV:Trade and economy have always been an important area of ​​cooperation between the two countries. Could you please tell us about the outstanding results in trade and economic cooperation between the two countries in recent times?

Ambassador Dang Minh Khoi:In relations between countries, political relations are extremely important. Political relations pave the way for economic and trade relations, and vice versa, political relations are clearly reflected in economic relations, and economic and trade cooperation further strengthens political relations.

In recent years, the economic and trade relations between Vietnam and China have been extremely strong. Looking back at the normalization of relations between the two countries in 1991, the trade turnover between the two countries was only 37 million USD. At the beginning of the 21st century, the trade turnover between the two countries was only 3 billion USD, but in recent years it has grown very rapidly, with an average growth rate of 20% per year.

According to Vietnam's data, in 2015, bilateral trade turnover reached nearly 70 billion USD, while according to China's data, it reached nearly 100 billion USD. The good news is that along with the strong growth of bilateral import and export, our exports to China have grown rapidly. Up to now, China has become Vietnam's second largest export market after the US. We have become the leading ASEAN country in export growth to China.

This shows that the Parties and Governments of the two countries are very interested in promoting trade, gradually reducing Vietnam's trade deficit to improve the import-export structure between the two sides.

Currently, we not only export traditional products such as agricultural, forestry and aquatic products to China, but also expand to many industrial products. This is a welcome trend, proving that the Vietnamese economy is developing very healthily.

PV:Thank you, Ambassador.

According to VOV