Talks between the delegation of departments, boards, sectors of Lang Son province, Viet Nam and the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

On July 17, 2025, in Dong Kinh ward, Lang Son province, the Department of Foreign Affairs of Lang Son province hosted talks between the delegation of departments, boards, sectors of Lang Son province, Viet Nam, and the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, to exchange and evaluate the implementation results of the common understandings and cooperation agreements reached and signed at the Spring Meeting and the Conference of 16th Joint Working Committee, as well as at the meeting between Secretary of the Lang Son Provincial Party Committee, Viet Nam, Hoang Van Nghiem and Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, Chen Gang, in February 2025 in Quang Ninh province.

Attending the talks were the delegation of the Department of External Affairs and Cultural Diplomacy of Viet Nam Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by Deputy Director Nguyen Dong Trung. On the Lang Son side, the talks were chaired by Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs Trinh Tuyet Mai, with leaders of provincial department, boards, sectors. On the Guangxi side, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office and President of the Guangxi People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Wei Ran, attended along with representatives of Guangxi’s departments and agencies.

Overview of the talks. Photo: La Viet

At the talks, the two sides focused on evaluating the cooperation results between Lang Son and Guangxi in the first six months of 2025. Since the beginning of the year, both sides have actively and regularly maintained visits, greetings, exchanges, meetings, and talks between the leaders Party committees and governments of province and region and corresponding agencies; promoted economic and trade cooperation; improved customs clearance capacity for import-export goods; restored cross-border trade, import-export, and immigration activities; coordinated to effectively implement cargo delivery and reception methods at border gates; actively promoted the pilot construction of smart border gates; cooperated in combating and preventing drug-related criminal and offenses, terrorism, and illegal immigration; resolved emerging border issues in accordance with signed agreements, cooperation frameworks, and memorandums of understanding; and achieved positive results in people-to-people exchanges, culture, sports, tourism, education, health, labor, justice, and other fields. The pilot smart border gate project has made significant progress. In the first half of the year, the total import-export turnover of all types of goods through Lang Son Province reached USD 41,710.4 million, up 39.22% over the same period in 2024.

Ms. Trinh Tuyet Mai, Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Lang Son province, Viet Nam, speaks at the talks. Photo: La Viet

To build on the achieved results and further strengthen friendly exchanges and comprehensive, practical, and effective cooperation between Lang Son, Viet Nam, and Guangxi, China, the two sides agreed to focus on implementing the following tasks in the coming time:

(i) Actively and jointly organize activities for the “Viet Nam–China People-to-People Exchange Year 2025” as agreed by the leaders of the two Parties and two countries at the high-level, provincial/regional, departmental, and border-local levels. Continue to accelerate the implementation of key programs, projects, and cooperation agreements between Lang Son and Guangxi in the remaining months of the year.

(ii) Promptly report to the governments of both countries to approve the official opening of the Binh Nghi – Pinger Guan bilateral border gate pair in 2025 and upgrade the Chi Ma – Aidian bilateral border gate to an international border gate.

(iii) Study the feasibility of adjusting working hours and investing in expanding the connecting route on the Chinese side to enhance customs clearance capacity at the Coc Nam – Nongrao clearance point (under the Huu Nghi–Youyi Guan International Border Gate).

(iv) Actively direct relevant functional sectors, border management agencies, and local authorities on both sides to cooperate closely and take appropriate measures to promptly resolve differences in the perception of the border line’s position and direction, definitively settle remaining problematic areas, and address newly arising border issues.

(v) Jointly and proactively report to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam and China to unify and guide border localities on liaison channels between the two sides to ensure timely coordination in foreign affairs and border management, further promoting friendly exchanges and effective cooperation in the future.

(vi) Continue to promote cooperation in education and vocational training between Guangxi, China, and Lang Son province, Viet Nam. Support training cooperation in several new, high-tech industries such as semiconductor chips, electrical–electronic engineering, mechanical processing, renewable energy, and clean agriculture in line with the socio-economic development trends of the two countries, and transfer technology and training curricula for these fields.

Director of the Foreign Affairs Office and President of the Guangxi People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, China, Wei Nian, speaks at the talks. Photo: La Viet

Delegates take a group photo. Photo: La Viet

After the talks, the working delegation of the Foreign Affairs Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, visited and surveyed Viettel Logistics Park, Dong Dang International Railway Station, and Xuan Cuong Parking Lot before exiting the country, successfully concluding their visit and working trip to localities in Viet Nam.