Vietnamese and Chinese border provinces set up working groups
Nhan Dan, Vietnam
The northern provinces of Vietnam and China’s southern and southeastern provinces that share a mutual border have agreed to establish working groups in an effort to beef up bilateral economic co-operation.
Vietnam’s northern provinces of Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Ha Giang signed an agreement underscoring the commitment with southern China’s Yunnan.
A similar deal was also reached between the Vietnamese provinces of Cao Bang, Lang Son and Quang Ninh, and their Chinese counterpart, Guangxi, during a visit to China from June 6-12 by leaders from the seven provinces, Haiphong port city, relevant ministries and 40 domestic businesses.
The establishment of joint working groups is considered a move to implement agreements signed between senior leaders of the two nations.
During the visit, the delegation, led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vu Dung, worked with Qin Guangrong, Governor of Yunnan province; Liu Qibao, Secretary of the Regional Party Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; Lin Musheng, Vice Governor of Guangdong province, and leaders of other localities of China.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs co-ordinated with authorities of Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces to organise three forums on economic co-operation, which saw the attendance of representatives from more than 1,200 local businesses.
The Vietnamese guests also called at several economic establishments in the cities of Kunming (Yunnan), Nanning, Liuzhou (Guangxi), Guangzhou and Shenzhen (Guangdong), as well as historical sites where President Ho Chi Minh had previously lived and performed revolutionary activities.
The seven Vietnamese provinces share 1,400 km of common border with China’s Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan of China are part of the Tonkin Gulf economic belt, which also includes Haiphong city, Quang Ninh province and some other localities of Vietnam. (VNA)