Hanoi (VNA) – DeputyChief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army Sen. Lieut. Gen NguyenPhuong Nam hosted a reception in Hanoi on November 12 for a delegation from theNational Immigration Administration of China led by its deputy head ZhaoChanghua.

Nam hailed defence ties as one ofthe important pillars in the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership,evidenced by the Vietnam visit by Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe in May2019 and Vietnamese Minister of National Defence Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich’sattendance at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in late October 2019.

A highlight of bilateral defence relationswas the successful organisation of five editions of border defence friendshipexchanges, and the sixth of its kind is scheduled for early 2020, contributingto raising mutual understanding, fighting cross-border crime, and building aborderline of peace, friendship, cooperation and development.

Nam also lauded the outcomes ofcooperation between the Vietnam Border Guard High Command and the NationalImmigration Administration of China as well as units under the Chinese Ministryof Public Security in the fields of border management and protection, immigrationcontrol, crime combat, security and order maintenance in border areas.

He suggested that both sidesshould continue seriously implementing three legal documents on the shared border,stepping up border guard cooperation at all levels, enhancing expertiseexchange and communications, working closely with authorities in border areas tomaintain political security, social safety and order, facilitate immigration,thus promoting socio-economic development of both countries and border areas inparticular.

Zhang, for his part, wished thatthe two countries’ emigration staff and border guards would together maintain orderalong the border and at border gates, improve the efficiency of border gateinspections, facilitate export-import activities, fight trans-national andtrans-border crime, helping to develop the bilateral solidarity andfriendship./.