Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man shakes hands with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China Zhao Leji.  Photo:Le Tuyet/VOV

At the talks, Chairman Man suggested that the two sides promote parliamentary cooperation as an important pillar of bilateral relations; increase exchanges of delegations at all levels of the National Assembly, deputies, and local People's Council delegations of the two countries; and support each other at inter-parliamentary forums. He affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and gives top priority to developing relations with China.

Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China Zhao Leji hold talks. Photo: Le Tuyet/VOV

Chairman Zhao welcomed and endorsed the cooperation proposals by Chairman Man, affirming that China stands ready to work with Vietnam to concretise the common perceptions reached by the two Party General Secretaries and advance bilateral relations in line with the “six major orientations.”

Accordingly, China is willing to enhance political trust and maintain high-level exchanges; promote exchanges and experience sharing on Party building and state governance; improve the quality and effectiveness of practical cooperation, including connecting the Belt and Road Initiative with the “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework and cooperating in the construction of three standard-gauge railway lines linking the two countries; foster people-to-people and locality-to-locality exchanges to strengthen the social foundation; and step up coordination at multilateral inter-parliamentary mechanisms.

The two sides also exchanged views on maritime issues, agreeing to implement high-level common perceptions, properly handle matters at sea, and maintain a peaceful and stable environment.

After the talks, the two top legislators co-chaired the first meeting of the cooperation committee between the Vietnamese NA and the Chinese NPC. The two sides discussed legislative and supervisory work on major issues of mutual concern regarding national security, and economic, trade, scientific and technological cooperation.