Beijing (VNA) - Vietnam has been the largest trading partner of China’s Guangxi province for the past 25 years, and the building of a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance between the two countries has given Guangxi an important mission and brought about new historical opportunities for its development.

Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Lan Tianli, stated this at a press conference in Beijing on June 12, during which he noted that thanks to geographical and cultural proximity, the traditional friendship between Guangxi and Vietnam is becoming stronger and cooperation and exchanges closer.

Lan reported that trade between Guangxi and Vietnam neared 254 billion Yuan (approximately 35 billion USD) in 2023, and over 120.8 billion Yuan in the first five months of 2024, up 29.2% and 36.8% year-on-year, respectively.

He said that with the advantage of being the only province of China connected to ASEAN by both land and sea, Guangxi will accelerate its connectivity with Vietnam in terms of rail and road, and expand cross-border industrial cooperation, and exchanges in culture and tourism.

According to the official, the Nanning-Chongzuo high-speed railway near the China-Vietnam borderline, opened to traffic in 2022, and the construction of the Chongzuo – Pingxiang section, which is adjacent to Vietnam, is being sped up. Currently, Guangxi plans 13 highway routes to Vietnam, with seven of those having been completed.

Promoting the construction of cross-border standard-gauge rail connectivity as stated in the joint statement between the two countries will further enhance the "hard connectivity" of infrastructure between Guangxi and Vietnam, he said.

Last year, the trade of intermediate goods between Guangxi and Vietnam grew rapidly, ranking first in China's total import and export turnover. In the past five months, the figure surged by 46%. Therefore, Guangxi will attract and support more companies to enter border industrial zones such as Pingxiang and Dongxing, basing on smart logistics and border channels between the two countries to create cross-border supply and industrial chains with complementary advantages and mutual benefits, the official added.

Guangxi is speeding up the construction of smart border checkpoints in border areas shared between the two countries. Once completed, goods will be processed through smart, unmanned, uninterrupted custom systems, and goods from Nanning to Hanoi will be delivered within 24 hours, and to the four northern border provinces of Vietnam within 12 hours.

Guangxi will continue to diversify methods of exchange and cooperation with Vietnam, contributing to ♏strengthening the traditional friendship between the two nations, he affirmed./.