Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (L) shakes hands with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang during their meeting in Beijing, China, April 15, 2026. Photo: Vietnam News Agency
Li conveyed the message at a meeting with Lam at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday, during Lam’s state visit to China from April 14 to 17, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
At the meeting, both sides highly valued bilateral relations and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepening the Vietnam–China comprehensive strategic partnership in a more substantive manner.
China remains Vietnam’s largest trading partner and its second-largest export market, while Vietnam continues to be China’s largest trading partner within ASEAN.
Bilateral trade reached US$256.4 billion in 2025, up 24.8 percent year on year, Dau Tu (Investment) online newspaper reported, citing Vietnam’s customs data.
Of the total, Vietnam’s exports to China stood at $70.4 billion, up 14.8 percent year on year, while its imports rose 29 percent to $186 billion, resulting in a $115.6 billion trade deficit for Vietnam.
Against this backdrop, Lam urged both sides to promote more balanced and sustainable trade, including by expanding China’s imports of high-quality Vietnamese goods.
He also called on China to support Vietnam’s participation in the ‘Big Market for All: Export to China’ initiative and to further open its market to Vietnamese agricultural, seafood, and livestock products that meet quality standards.
In response, Li expressed support for Vietnam’s proposals and stressed that China attaches great importance to substantive, mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.
He said China is ready to work with Vietnam to advance more balanced trade, increase imports of high-quality Vietnamese agricultural products, and support Vietnam’s participation in major Chinese trade initiatives.
Li also encouraged expanded bilateral investment and the development of stable regional supply and production chains, while supporting greater high-quality Chinese investment in Vietnam.
Beyond trade, Lam called for breakthroughs in strategic infrastructure connectivity, with railway cooperation identified as a top priority.
He proposed that China provide concessional loans, workforce training, and technology transfer to help Vietnam operate, maintain, and repair electrified railway systems.
The Vietnamese leader also suggested expanding smart border gates and developing cross-border economic cooperation zones in border localities.
He further called for increased electricity imports from China and stronger cooperation in investment, science and technology, education and training, finance, agriculture, and environmental protection.
Lam also urged deeper technology transfer in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, free trade zones, smart cities and smart manufacturing, as well as cooperation in addressing urban pollution and accelerating China-supported projects.
Agreeing with these proposals, Li said both sides should prioritize strategic infrastructure connectivity, particularly cooperation in technology, human resource training, and capital mobilization in the railway sector.
He added that the two countries should effectively implement standard-gauge railway projects linking them, while promoting multimodal logistics connectivity.
Li also proposed exploring new areas of cooperation in science and technology, digital transformation, innovation, and artificial intelligence as new growth drivers.
He expressed readiness to strengthen cooperation in education and training, particularly in developing high-quality human resources, and to roll out concrete programs for the 2026–27 tourism cooperation year.
Li expressed hope for an early meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung to build a sound working relationship between the two prime ministers and jointly advance substantive outcomes in bilateral cooperation.
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