The two-day event, chaired by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, attracted more than 100 delegates who are leaders of ministries, sectors and localities, along with representatives of some research institutes, universities and business associations.
Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said the workshop is a good opportunity for ministries, localities, research agencies and businesses to discuss and have a comprehensive view of the countries’ economic partnerships. The Deputy Prime Minister is also the Chairman of the Vietnamese subcommittee of the Steering Committee for Vietnam-China Bilateral Cooperation.
The workshop focuses on China’s external economic policy; investment, trade and tourism cooperation between the countries’ localities; along with bilateral affiliation within the framework of some regional connectivity initiatives.
The Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of prioritizing the stable, healthy and sustainable development of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, including win-win economic cooperation. He required participants to look into potential and outcomes of the countries’ economic ties and suggest effective measures to tackle obstacles and boost economic links with China in an equal, healthy and sustainable manner.
According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the two way trade between Vietnam and China reached 66.6 billion USD in 2015, up 13.4 percent compared with 2014, in which Vietnam exported 17.1 billion USD worth of goods to China (up 14.8 percent) and imported 49.5 billion USD in commodities (up 13.3 percent).
The statistics showed that Vietnam had become the biggest ASEAN trade partner of China, by the end of July 2016, with a total trade value hitting 52.26 billion USD, down 1.3 percent from the same period last year. In the same reviewed period, China exported 33.52 billion USD worth of goods to Vietnam, a year-on-year increase of 7.9 percent, and imported 18.74 billion USD worth of goods from Vietnam, a year-on-year increase of 13.1 percent.
Regarding investment, 127 new investment projects were operated by Chinese enterprises in Vietnam in the first half of 2016 with an increase of 537.6 million USD in investment capital. As of July 2016, China (excluding Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau), secured 1,500 investment projects in Vietnam worth 10.86 billion USD, ranking ninth out of the 116 countries and territories investing in Vietnam