Vietnam's new president calls for closer ties in 1st call to China's Xi

In the first phone conversation Nguyen Xuan Phuc had with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping since taking over as Vietnam’s president, the two affirmed the importance of Vietnam-China relations to their foreign policy and hailed each other’s recent accomplishments, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.

Phuc said Vietnam had successfully achieved the "twin goals" of economic development and epidemic control, and held elections to the National Assembly and People's Council for 2021-26 on Sunday.

But it still faces a number of difficulties and challenges, and hopes to benefit from cooperation with other countries, including China, he said.

He suggested a number of measures to foster relations between the two countries, such as strengthening cooperation for the prevention of Covid-19, improving the quality and efficiency of economic, trade and investment cooperation and promoting local cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

He said the two countries should maintain maritime peace and stability and handle maritime issues in accordance with the law and based on international rules such as the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and continue to coordinate at multilateral forums.

Phuc invited Xi and other Chinese leaders to visit Vietnam.

Phuc, who was earlier the prime minister, became president in April after his predecessor Nguyen Phu Trong stepped down.

Xi said he attaches great importance to relations with Vietnam and seeks to continue strengthening the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries and further develop the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

He emphasized the importance of high-level exchanges and contacts, and in turn invited Party General Secretary Trong and Phuc to visit China.

He said the ministries, sectors and local authorities in the two countries should cooperate with each other for mutual benefit, and manage disagreements as well as strengthen cooperation on maritime issues.

He promised China’s support for Vietnam at multilateral cooperation mechanisms and its fight against Covid.