Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made the statement on November 22, while attending the ASEAN-China Special Summit commemorating the 30th year of the ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations (1991-2021) alongside ASEAN leaders and Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping.
During the event, the ASEAN leaders highly appreciated Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first attendance at the event, thereby demonstrating the respect and attention by the top Chinese leader to reinforcing relations with ASEAN.
Both China and ASEAN highlighted their relationship as mutually beneficial, dynamic and substantive partnership. The announcement of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership by ASEAN and China has indicated the important results achieved in the comprehensive cooperation between the two sides over the past 30 years.
In his speech, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that, looking to the future, ASEAN and China need to continue to strengthen strategic trust, step up comprehensive cooperation, and work towards recording greater achievements, higher goals, and broader benefits for ASEAN-China relations.
Sharing support for the cooperation orientations outlined by the ASEAN and China leaders, the Vietnamese Government chief emphasized the core elements of cooperation, namely: jointly maintaining peace and stability for development cooperation in an uncertain environment, promoting achievements and closer cooperation to effectively respond to new global challenges as a contribution to comprehensive, inclusive, prosperous, safe and sustainable development for each side.
To ensure peace, security and stability in the region, especially in the East Sea, it is necessary to strengthen dialogue and trust, abide by international law and act responsibly among nations, make joint efforts to fully carry out the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and work toward soon achieving an effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
PM Chinh expressed his hope that ASEAN and China will soon restore and bolster economic, trade and investment cooperation.
Chinh suggested China further facilitate ASEAN's exports, ensure a balance of trade, intensify high-tech investment associated with innovation, infrastructure development, digital transformation, green growth, sustainable development, climate change adaptation, and early resumption of people-to-people exchanges.
On the basis of the sound neighborliness, friendship and traditional cooperation with China, Vietnam will continue to make efforts to contribute to fostering the development of ASEAN-China relations on a par with their comprehensive strategic partnership, PM Chinh went on to say.
At the end of the meeting, ASEAN and Chinese leaders agreed to adopt a joint statement of the special summit on the 30th anniversary of ASEAN - China relations, the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, security, stability, prosperity and sustainable development.
