Vietnam’s party general secretary, state president To Lam arrives in Guangzhou, starting China visit

Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and his spouse, along with their entourage, arrived in Guangzhou City of China’s Guangdong Province on Sunday, beginning a three-day state visit to the neighboring country at the invitation of Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and his spouse.

Guangdong Province Governor Wang Weizhong, Guangzhou Mayor Sun Zhiyang, Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo, and other Chinese officials greeted the Vietnamese leader and his wife upon their arrival at Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou.

Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai and Vietnamese Consul General in Guangzhou Nguyen Viet Dung, along with their spouses, were also present at the reception.

General Secretary and State President Lam and his spouse are accompanied by Do Van Chien, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Le Minh Hung, Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Organization Commission, Nguyen Xuan Thang, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, General Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defense, and Senior Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang, Minister of Public Security, among other officials.

While in Guangzhou, General Secretary and Sate President Lam and his entourage are scheduled to pay floral tribute to Vietnamese martyr Pham Hong Thai at his grave in the Huang Hua Gang Memorial Park, and visit the relic site of the headquarters of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League.

The Vietnamese leader will also meet with China’s Politburo member and Secretary of the Guangdong Province Party Committee Huang Kunming and a number of Chinese friendship figures.

One hundred years ago, Guangzhou was the place where President Ho Chi Minh, under the assumed name of Ly Thuy at that time, came as an envoy of the Communist International in the mission of Borodin, who was the Soviet Union’s advisor to the Chinese government led by revolutionary Sun Yat-sen.

President Ho Chi Minh then chose this place as a stopover, an operational base, and an ‘international headquarters’ for the Vietnamese revolution.

The city is also the place where many Vietnamese revolutionary predecessors lived and worked, and where Thanh Nien newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association, published its first issue on June 21, 1925, which was later chosen as the Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day.

During his China visit, Party chief and State President Lam is set to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, marking the first time for the two leaders to directly meet each other since Lam took on the new positions.

Lam was elected Vietnam’s state president in May and general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam earlier this month. He was the public security minister before assuming the two posts.

The Vietnamese leader will also meet other senior Chinese officials and attend a series of key activities in Beijing and Guangzhou.

The visit underscores the Vietnamese Party and state’s commitment to prioritizing the relationship with China, aiming to strengthen bilateral ties and open up new opportunities for cooperation.

Over the years, especially since establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2008, the relationship between Vietnam and China has flourished across various fields.

Next year, the two countries will mark the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

Currently, Vietnam is China’s biggest trade partner in Southeast Asia and its fifth-largest trade partner in the world, after the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Russia.

Meanwhile, China is Vietnam’s largest trade partner, and the latter’s second-biggest importer.

Over the first seven months of 2024, their two-way trade amounted to US$112.2 billion, up 25 percent year on year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

By Vinh Tho & Duy Linh – Tuoi Tre – August 18, 2024