Mr. Tran Hong Minh, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Delegation of the National Assembly of Cao Bang province; Mr. Truong Quang Hoai Nam, Deputy Head of the Central Committee for External Relations; and leaders of the Province attend the 2022 Spring Meeting at Cao Bang point

In 2021 and 2022, General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong have had many friendly diplomatic activities. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to the Vietnam-China friendly neighborly relationship, comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. He said that the relations between the two parties and two countries are maintaining good momentum, with close high-level exchanges and rapid growth in economic and trade cooperation. Maintaining the organization of the Spring Meeting in 2022 between the Secretaries of the Provincial Party Committees of the 4 border provinces of Vietnam and Party Committee of China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is concretizing the implementation of the views of the leaders of the two countries, contributing to elevating Vietnam - China friendship relationship.
The fact that the Spring Meeting has been held annually for the past 6 years has opened up opportunities for friendly cooperation between the two sides, promoted strategic cooperation, proposed cooperation in solving many fields, attracted investment, strengthened cooperation in health, culture, tourism, border protection with the goal of mutual benefit.
In 2021, the two sides actively coordinated to respond flexibly to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two sides built a mechanism for information coordination, strict control of entry and exit, border security strengthening, and exchange of measures to prevent and control epidemics in a "green border zone". Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has supported 4 border provinces of Vietnam with 550,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine and medical equipment and supplies for epidemic prevention (including 3 high-end ventilators; oxygen systems; 16 digital critically ill patient monitoring devices; cucleic acid detection test devices; protective material); supported to remove difficulties in import and export activities of Vietnamese agricultural products. Total import-export turnover in 2021 hit 9,140 million USD (Cao Bang: 815 million USD, Quang Ninh: 4,055 million USD, Lang Son: 4,270 million USD).
The four border provinces of Vietnam have stepped up to improve the investment environment for attracting Chinese investors to invest in the border-gate economic zone, in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Cao Bang province has 11 projects with 8 investors; the registered capital is more than 17,565 million USD and 622 billion VND. Quang Ninh has 148 FDI projects with over 8.19 billion USD of total registered investment capital by 20 countries and territories around the world, of which 76 projects are invested by China. The two sides have accelerated the construction of infrastructure connecting traffic between pairs of border gates, border crossings, and border markets; planned and built highways connecting the border gates; strengthened cooperation in opening, upgrading and managing border gates and border markets; enhanced cooperation in tourism, culture, health care, education and agriculture, and propagating three border legal documents.
Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai said that despite continuing to be affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the parties maintain the organization of the Spring Meeting between the secretaries of the Provincial/Regional Party Committees of the two sides to agree on viewpoints and solutions for cooperation, to remove difficulties and to come up with a new direction, which is a bright spot on the front line of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and China. He highly appreciated the leaders of the Party and Government of Guangxi Province (China) and the leaders of four border provinces of Vietnam for solving the congestion of goods at the border gates before 2022 Lunar New Year. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has donated 800,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine and many medical equipment and supplies to Vietnam to proactively prevent the epidemic and keep the "green border zone". Thereby, the bilateral cooperation in economy, trade and investment increased in 2021. According to Vietnam Customs statistics, two-way trade turnover reached 165.8 billion USD, up 24% over the same period; According to China Customs statistics, the two-way turnover reached a record high of 230.2 billion USD, up 19.7%, accounting for a quarter of the total turnover of China - ASEAN. As a result, China and Vietnam continue to be major trading partners.
Speaking at the Conference at Cao Bang point, Mr. Tran Hong Minh, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Cao Bang province affirmed: the results in 2021 are the efforts of the Secretaries of the 4 border provinces of Vietnam and the Secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; continue to promote the friendly cooperative relations that have been cultivated by generations of Party leaders of the two countries; enrich the content of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two parties and two countries. In 2022, on the basis of agreeing to issue the Conference Joint Communiqué and sign the 5-year friendship cooperation plan (2022 - 2026), the parties will continue to promote friendly and comprehensive cooperation to implement the signed contents; proactively implement in a creative, flexible and timely manner to remove difficulties under the motto "Strengthen exchanges and deepen practical cooperation" to turn the Vietnam - China friendship relationship into a bright spot, model, and win-win benefit cooperation.

Implement the spirit of foreign policy and unify the direction of the Secretaries of the Provincial Party Committees of the 4 border provinces and the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region during the 2022 Spring Meeting, at the 13th Conference of the Joint Working Committee between the 4 provinces of Cao Bang, Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Ha Giang (Vietnam) and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region taking place on the same day, the leaders of the governments of the two sides reviewed the friendship cooperation program achieved by the two sides in 2021 and agreed to set out specific tasks and contents on the friendship cooperation program for the year 2022.

Overview of the 13th Conference of the Joint Working Committee at Cao Bang point

At Guangxi’s point, Mrs. Cai Lixin, Vice Chairman of the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region affirmed: In 2021, after the 12th Conference of the Joint Working Committee, despite the impact of COVID-19 on the organization of direct exchanges and talks and with the spirit of friendship and solidarity, the leaders of the two governments regularly exchange information in various fields to direct relevant agencies and localities to synchronously and effectively deploy tasks on cross-border epidemic prevention and control; cooperate in health related to epidemic prevention by supporting vaccines and medical supplies, keeping the "green border zone"; cooperate to solve difficulties in customs clearance of goods to avoid congestion at border gates of four northern border provinces of Vietnam; continue to open, upgrade, manage the border gate, and build transport connection infrastructure; promote propaganda of 3 legal documents on the land border between Vietnam and China and related agreements; cooperate in tourism, education, culture and agriculture. The results achieved in 2021 will increase socio-economic benefits for the two sides, which creates a solid basis for respecting each other as partners for comprehensive strategic cooperation.

On behalf of the 4 border provinces of Vietnam, Mr. Le Hai Hoa, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Chairman of the Cao Bang Joint Working Committee, promoting the achievements, proposed the tasks to be implemented in 2022: continue to well implement the friendship cooperation agreements between the four border provinces of Vietnam and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; take 2022 as a hinge in the 5-year cooperation plan (2022 - 2026); the authorities of the two sides frankly acknowledge the difficulties, obstacles and limitations that are not commensurate with the potential and advantages of the two sides. The 6 remaining limitations were pointed out by the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committees of the 4 border provinces of Vietnam and the Secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: The upgrading and recognition of main border gates, bilateral border gates, pairs of border gates and openings is still slow; it is still slow to solve the congestion of agricultural products in some border areas; there is still the situation that the two sides still violate the Agreement on Border Management Regulations; illegal immigration, cross-border smuggling and drug trafficking are still complicated; the technical infrastructure in the border-gate zones, the traffic, communication, and warehouse systems has not yet met commercial activities; the management of cross-border labor has not been implemented synchronously and effectively.
In 2022, the two sides will continue to strengthen exchanges and deepen practical cooperation. The four border provinces of Vietnam and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are determined to overcome difficulties, paying special attention to the six existing problems mentioned above, in order to promote their potential and advantages. The two sides continue to maintain and strengthen foreign cooperation and people-to-people exchanges; cooperate in the fields of agriculture, currency, science and technology, and fight crime in the border areas; effectively implement the friendship and strategic partnership between Vietnam and China.