Huang Kunming, secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and Wang Weizhong, deputy Party chief and governor of Guangdong, met with To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese president, in Guangzhou on August 18.

The trip to China was To's first foreign engagement since taking office as CPV general secretary earlier this year.

Huang welcomed To on behalf of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and the Guangdong People's Government and gave a rundown of the province's efforts in the implementation of the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee and in the advancement of Chinese modernization through further reform.

Huang said China and Vietnam are close neighbors connected by mountains and rivers and that the two countries have forged a friendship of "comrades-plus-brothers".

A century ago, late Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh came to Guangzhou to launch revolutionary activities and fostered close bonds with Chinese military personnel and civilians, writing a splendid story of friendship between the two countries.

Huang Kunming, secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), meets with To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese president, in Guangzhou on August 18. [Photo/ld.southcn.com]

In recent times, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two Communist parties, Guangdong and Vietnam have engaged in closer exchanges and made tangible progress in the pursuit of win-win cooperation.

During his visit, To traced the footsteps of Ho from his revolutionary days in Guangdong and sought to further develop the friendship between the two countries, which fully reflected the great importance he attaches to China-Vietnam relations and his special affection toward Guangdong.

Huang said Guangdong will make full use of such important platforms as the Vietnam-Guangdong Cooperation & Coordination Meeting and Guangdong-Ho Chi Minh City friendly-city ties, strengthen mutual learning at various levels and in multiple fields, support two-way investment between China and Vietnam, safeguard the stability of industrial and supply chains, deepen bilateral exchanges and cooperation on trade, agriculture, cadre training, promote economic connection and people-to-people exchanges between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Vietnam toward complementarity and win-win cooperation, and deliver solid outcomes in the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future.

He stressed that Guangdong will further strengthen its protection of cultural relics and other heritage connected with Ho and other late Vietnamese revolutionary figures who found refuge there, tell the story of traditional friendship between the two peoples, ask future generations of the two countries to bear in mind that long-standing friendship and their common aspirations, and support each other in the pursuit of their respective socialist modernization paths.

To thanked Guangdong for the warm reception. Noting that the revolution in the two countries is interconnected and inseparable, he said that it was important for him to pay tribute to the cultural relics associated with Ho and other late Vietnamese revolutionary figures, review the traditional friendship between Vietnam and China that was forged and fostered personally by the older generation of leaders of the two countries, learn more about the deeds of the then young Vietnamese revolutionary figures who received education and training and made positive contributions to China's revolution as this year is the centenary of Ho's stay in Guangzhou.

To said that the CPV and the Vietnamese people have always cherished the tremendous support they received from the CPC and the Chinese people during their revolution and their national liberation and national development struggles. He stressed that Vietnam has always considered relations with China to be a strategic choice and a top priority in its foreign policy and that the CPV will firmly carry forward the long-standing friendship between the two political parties, the two countries and the two peoples, attaching utmost importance to developing relations with China, and further promoting the momentum of the strategic exchanges between the leaders of the two political parties and the two peoples, and working together in ushering in a new era for the building of Vietnam-China good-neighborliness, the comprehensive strategic partnership and a community with a shared future.

Noting that Guangdong is an economic powerhouse of China and that it has demonstrated dynamism and vitality while gaining plenty of valuable experience in the reform, opening-up and modernization drive, To said Vietnam has attached great importance to the development of friendly exchanges with the province and that there is huge potential for the two sides to engage in win-win cooperation. He emphasized that he viewed his visit as an opportunity to intensify bilateral exchanges at various levels, as well as people-to-people exchanges and expanding cooperation in trade, investment, the building of transport infrastructure, agricultural commodities, industrial cultivation, cultural tourism and cadre training, and the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future.

After the meeting, the two sides addressed a Chinese friendship with Vietnam meeting. Those in attendance included Chinese ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo, vice-chairpersons of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries Jiang Jiang and Yuan Mindao, as well as local provincial-level and municipal-level officials.

Video link: https://www.gdtv.cn/tv/ff16c7598024c49accd1b86d9c52a822