Eric's Insight: Yunnan expects to cooperate more with Vietnam

The official visit to China by Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee, seems to have brought more possibilities for Yunnan to cooperate with the neighboring ASEAN nation.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, held talks with Nguyen Phu Trong on Oct. 31, with their talks covering diverse topics followed by a joint statement. And quite a few points can be relevant to Yunnan province.

Xi Jinping (R) and Nguyen Phu Trong have a tea chat after an awarding ceremony in Beijing Oct. 31, 2022. Xi Jinping awarded Nguyen Phu Trong the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

Great minds think alike

During the talks, the two Party chiefs proposed the two sides offer more support to localities, particularly those in border areas, while extending coordination between Vietnamese localities and promising counterparts of China, reported Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

“The two sides agree to organise theoretical seminars between the two Parties, enhance exchanges and cooperation between agencies of the two Parties at the central level and Party organisations in localities, especially border provinces/regions,” said the joint statement.

When it comes to the Chinese border areas or localities near Vietnam, Yunnan province becomes prominent for it shares a 1,300km border section and six pairs of border gates with the country and it has been looking to cooperation with the Vietnamese localities, especially the provinces in northwest Vietnam.

During the annual meeting between the Chinese province of Yunnan and the Vietnamese provinces of Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Lai Chau and Dien Bien earlier this year, the provincial party secretaries jointly signed the Minutes of the Second Meeting.

Wang Ning, secretary of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee, said the five provinces are key to the synergy between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Vietnamese "Two Corridors and One Belt" framework.

 

The Vietnam-proposed "Two Corridors and One Belt" framework. Photo courtesy/Research Gate  

Seizing opportunities from the RCEP taking effects and the construction of version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN FTZ, Yunnan is ready to work with the four Vietnamese provinces for joint pursuit of deeper economic cooperation, faster infrastructure connection, and closer people-to-people ties.

During his talks with Xi jinping, Nguyen Phu Trong also called for taking advantage of the existing cooperation mechanism between the two countries to promote the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative with the "Two Corridors, One Economic Belt" and yield more fruitful economic cooperation, reported Xinhua on November 1.

“The two sides agree to accelerate discussion on and the signing of a cooperation plan between the two governments on promoting connectivity between the “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework and the Belt and Road Initiative, rolling out cooperation in production capacity and infrastructure construction,” noted the joint statement.

This is a reminiscence of a saying that great minds think alike. Since leaders from China (Yunnan) and Vietnam are both look forward to strategic synergy from the two sides, the province will usher in more possibilities for cooperation with Vietnam, especially business opportunities.

 

A cold-chain truck carrying 17.28 tons of fresh Vietnamese durians goes through the Hekou border gate and enters the Chinese market on October 11. China began importing durian from Vietnam under RCEP. Photo/Yunnan Daily 

Cooperation in connectivity, economy

China’s Yunnan and Vietnam have been linked up naturally by hills and rivers since the primordial times, and now in the new era, the two sides need more modern facilities for mutual connectivity and common prosperity.

During their talks, Vietnamese Party leader Trọng sought China's facilitation on procedures and raising the limit of Vietnamese goods transiting China to a third country by rail, and favorable conditions for cooperation in air, road and rail transport, reported VNA on October 31.

In this respect, the century-old Yunnan-Vietnam railway by French colonists needs to be preserved for cultural tourism, or rather as a historic evidence, for the meter-wide gauge is no longer connectable to the internationally-accepted standard gauge.

The Yunnan section of the new Yunnan-Vietnam railway has been built up with a designed speed of around 200km/h. If the seamless railway connection of the two sides is achieved, the Kunming-Laocai-Hanoi-Haiphong-Quangninh corridor, part of the Vietnam-proposed “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework, will be basically materialized, and the Vietnamese economy will benefit more from the fast Chinese railway network.

China has launched a number of direct freight trains to Europe under the Belt and Road Initiative, and via the Kunming railway station, more Vietnamese consumer products will have access to the vast market in central Asia and Europe.

The two sides agreed to early complete the evaluation of the Làocai-Hànội-Hảiphòng standard gauge railway planning, and are willing to discuss and reach agreement on a plan to connect the railway between Lào Cai station (Việt Nam) and Hekou North station (China), noted the joint statement.

 

Customs officers examine the fresh litchi from Vietnam at the Hekou check point in south Yunnan in June 2020. Photo/Xinhua 

Despite the supply-chain disruption and other economic uncertainties brought by the Covid pandemic and trade protectionism of certain countries, the China-Vietnam trade volume continued surging over the years.

In 2021, the trade volume between China and Vietnam reached 230.2 billion US dollars. Now China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and Vietnam is China's eighth-largest trading partner. The China-Vietnam trade value represents around a quarter of the China-ASEAN trade.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade signed a MoU on food safety in bilateral trade with the Chinese General Administration of Customs (GACC); and another on cooperation in trade and economy with the People's Government of Yunnan Province, reported VNA on October 31.

The MoU has sent a strong signal to Yunnan province that trade and economy will be a promising area for bilateral cooperation. The China-Vietnam trade fair in the Hekou-Laocai border area will see increasing transactions, and the cross-border market by folks near the boundary will thrive again.

As Kunming Customs has been trying to quicken clearance services at the border gates, including the Helou, Tianbao and other gates near the China-Vietnam boundary, more Yunnan organic produces will find their way to the Vietnamese dinner tables and more sea food from Vietnam will access the Chinese market via Yunnan.

As the Vietnamese side will actively “speed up the process of market opening for Chinese milk,” as mentioned in the joint statement, the high-quality milk products made in west Yunnan’s Dali will see promising sales in the country.

In the future, the Kunming Customs and its check points at the border gates will cooperate more with their Vietnamese counterparts for “smooth trade activities”, “pandemic prevention”, “facilitating customs clearance”, and the joint “Operation Mekong Dragon” program, as are listed in the statement.

  

A smart equipment is set in October at the Hekou check point in south Yunann by customs officers for China-Vietnam trade. Photo/Yunnan Daily

Environment, travel and culture

Under the Beautiful China initiative, Yunnan has tried to be a most beautiful province in China and the province also successfully hosted the first phrase of the UNCBD COP-15 meeting. As Vietnam is linked to Yunnan by rivers and mountains, the two sides can consider more joint efforts in protecting the environment.

In particular, the Yuan-Red river makes a natural link between Yunnan and Vietnam, and the river valley also represents areas of fertile farmland and a high degree of biodiversity. The two sides will share more meteorological and hydrological data of the Hồng (Red) River-Yuan River, Ky Cung River-Zuojiang, Mekong-Lancang River and other international rivers, according to the joint statement.

During their talks, the two party chiefs also agreed to “expand cooperation in the fields of agriculture and environment”, while the joint statement said the two sides agreed to “continue collaboration in fighting the illegal trade of animals facing the threat of extinction”, reported VNA.

Yunnan is a major province of tourism in China, and cultural tourism is a good way to increase mutual understanding among folks, but this was substantially stranded by the Covid spikes over the past few years. Luckily, China and Việt Nam agreed to cooperate in cultural tourism in line with the two countries’ pandemic prevention policy.

As the restoration of “commercial flights and cooperation in tourism” has been suggested by the two party chiefs, as is reported by VNA, more international tours and direct flights will be hopefully conducted between Yunnan and Vietnam.

 

Nguyen Thi Mai Quyen, native to Sơn La province in northern Vietnam, teaches the Vietnamese language at Yunnan Unviersity. Photo/Yunnan Daily 

Universities in Yunnan will also usher in more international students from Vietnam, for the Chinese side has committed to providing Việt Nam with no less than 1,000 government scholarships, and training no less than 1,000 Chinese teachers for Việt Nam.

Since Yunnan enjoys special geographical proximity with Vietnam, a large proportion of the Vietnamese is expected to choose Yunnan as their destination for further study. In the future, the international students and teachers will be bridges and cultural ambassadors for the people-to-people bonds in the two places.

(The writer Eric Wang Shixue is an English editor with the Mekong News Network based in Kunming, Yunnan province. The view in the article does not necessarily represent that of Yunnan Gateway.)