Vietnam’s Party chief wraps up China visit

By VnExpress January 15, 2017 | 06:06 am PT

Vietnam’s Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (wearing a hat) before leaving China for Vietnam on January 15, 2017. Photo by Vietnam News Agency

Chinese President Xi Jinping has accepted an invitation to attend the APEC Summit in Vietnam later this year.

Vietnamese Communist Party Chief Nguyen Phu Trong ended a three-day visit to China on Sunday, having met with President Xi Jinping, State Council Premir Li Keqiang and other senior officials during the trip.

On Thursday, Trong and Xi jointly attended the signing of 15 cooperation agreements, before attending a tea party that Vietnam News described as an unprecedented gesture for a visiting foreign official.

China and Vietnam pledged to manage their differences and safeguard peace in the East Sea, internationally known as South China Sea, in a joint communique issued during the visit.

The two sides agreed to continue to "fully and effectively" implement the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the East Sea and strive for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the basis of consensus in the framework of the DOC.

They agreed the trade imbalance should be addressed and legal procedures should be completed to further open the Chinese market to Vietnamese agricultural produce.

The two countries noted the need to facilitate the establishment of Vietnamese trade promotion offices in China, with the first planned in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

Vietnam said it welcomes Chinese-invested projects that use modern and environmentally-friendly technology, particularly those involved in agriculture, high technology, manufacturing and support industries.

The Chinese President accepted Trong’s invitation to visit Vietnam and attend the 25th Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which will be hosted by the Southeast Asian nation later this year.

> Vietnamese Party chief meets Chinese premier with trade on the cards