Vietnam seeks to be featured country in China's trade promotion initiative

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung made the proposal during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and Related Meetings in the Philippines.

The meeting between the two ministers took place in a 'friendly, sincere, and open' atmosphere, with both reaffirming the importance they attach to bilateral relations.

Both officials agreed to continue seriously and effectively implementing important common understandings reached by the top leaders of the two Parties and countries, while strengthening cooperation in areas including development strategy connectivity, economic and trade ties, investment, and science and technology.

Minister Trung called on China to further expand market access for Vietnamese goods, particularly agricultural products.

He also urged China to facilitate business activities between the two countries and support Vietnam's bid to become the featured country in the 'Big Market for All: Export to China' initiative.

The initiative, comprising a series of events, was first mentioned in the media during Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President To Lam's visit to China in April 2026.

As part of the top Vietnamese leader's visit, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Le Manh Hung, inviting Vietnam to actively participate in five events to be held in China in 2026 under the initiative, as well as welcoming Vietnam to serve as the featured country in the 2027 series of events.

At the meeting in the Philippines, Minister Trung also expressed a desire for the two sides to increase exchanges and share experience, including China's experience in renewing growth models, developing science and technology, promoting innovation, and advancing green transformation.

Foreign Minister Wang said Vietnam and China should continue to strengthen solidarity, cooperation and mutual support amid complex international developments, while working together to protect the legitimate interests of developing nations.

He noted that both countries are neighboring socialist nations and developing countries.

He invited Vietnamese leaders to attend the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in China.

Minister Trung expressed his appreciation for the invitation and confidence that China would successfully host APEC Year 2026.

The two ministers also emphasized the importance of promoting inclusive and mutually beneficial international cooperation in artificial intelligence to help narrow development gaps and enable developing countries to access and benefit from advances in science and technology.

Currently, China is Vietnam's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $256.5 billion in 2025, up 24.8 percent from the previous year, according to Vietnam's official statistics.