Hanoi (VNA) –Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh talked over the phone with Chinese Premier LiKeqiang on January 13, on the occasion of the 72nd foundinganniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties (January 18, 1950 - 2022).

PM Chinh affirmed that thetraditional friendship and comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership betweenVietnam and China is the top priority in Vietnam’s foreign policy ofindependence, self-reliance, and multilateralism and diversification of foreignrelations.

The two countries’ relationshipis crucial to the stability and development of each side and also beneficial tothe maintenance of peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the regionand the world at large, he emphasised.

The Vietnamese PM noted after35 years of Doi moi (Renewal), under the leadership of many generations ofleaders, currently Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam has beenbuilding, supplementing, and increasingly perfecting the theory on socialismand the path to socialism in the country.

Sharing his Vietnamesecounterpart’s view, Premier Li congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in theCOVID-19 combat and socio-economic recovery and development.

He stressed that Chinaattaches great importance to the ties with Vietnam and wishes to enhance theirtime-tested friendship and unceasingly develop the comprehensive strategiccooperative partnership in a substantive manner.

China highly values andconsistently supports Vietnam in following the path to socialism that matches thelatter’s situation, he affirmed.

The two PMs applauded thecountries’ high-level meetings last year, especially the phone talks betweentheir Party General Secretaries.

Despite the pandemic’s adverse impacts, bilateral trade still hit a record of over 160 billion USD in 2021,the Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line has been put into operation, and especially thetwo sides have worked closely with each other to deal with the farm producecongestion at border gates.

Regarding the goodscongestion at border gates, PM Chinh underlined that both sides shouldcoordinate closely and adopt effective and drastic solutions to this problem,thus ensuring smooth trading and maintaining supply and production chains betweenthe two countries as well as in the region, particularly in the coming LunarNew Year holiday.

He asked China to continueincreasing imports and accelerate the opening of its market to someagricultural products of Vietnam.

Premier Li highlighted hisattention to Vietnam’s recommendations about economic, trade, and investmentlinks, considering this as an important field in bilateral cooperation.

He ordered relevant ministries,sectors, and localities of China to settle the issue, and suggested both sides set up ajoint working group to continue dealing with it, thereby facilitating Vietnamesefarm products' entry into China and maintain the trade flow.

In terms of border andterritorial affairs, PM Chinh asked the two sides to keep effectively implementingthe three documents on the Vietnam - China land border; further bring into playnegotiation mechanisms to sustain peace and stability in the East Sea; respecteach other’s legitimate and legal interests that are in line with internationallaw, properly handle sea-related issues in accordance with the high-levelcommon perceptions and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of theSea; and actively boost talks so as to soon finalise a substantive and effective Codeof Conduct (COC) in the East Sea matching international law.

The Chinese leader expressedhis hope that the negotiation mechanisms on sea-related issues between the twocountries will be stepped up so that substantive progress is obtained, addingthat his country is ready to join Vietnam and other ASEAN countries in strivingto reach a COC early.

During the talks, the leadersagreed to maintain channels of discussion about land border and sea-relatedissues, promote consensus, iron out differences, and maintain common peace andstability./.