Beijing (VNA) – The recent state visit to Vietnam by Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping has laid out the future of bilateral relations from a high-level strategic perspective, said journalist Shen Shiwei of the China Global Television Network (CGTN) under the China Media Group (CMG).

In an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency (VNA) correspondents in Beijing, Shen noted that the visit saw wide-ranging discussions between the two countries' leaders on major global and strategic issues of mutual concern, as well as the signing of a raft of cooperation agreements.

As Xi’s first overseas visit of the year and, notably, his first to a neighbouring country following China’s Central Conference on Work Related to Neighbouring Countries, the move underlined Beijing’s consideration of developing ties with Hanoi as a priority of its broader foreign policy on its neighbourhood, the journalist assessed.

Among the concrete outcomes, Shen highlighted the establishment of a new 3+3 ministerial-level strategic dialogue mechanism covering diplomacy, defence, and security, an initiative expected to bolster strategic coordination. He also underlined efforts to further deepen the strategic links between China’s new quality productive forces and Vietnam’s emerging productive forces.

During the visit, the two sides inked 45 cooperation documents spanning artificial intelligence, customs inspections and quarantine, agricultural trade, culture and sports, public welfare, human resources development, and media collaboration. These agreements lay a more solid foundation for extensive cooperation, particularly in industrial and supply chain connectivity, Shen said.

Another milestone was the launch of the bilateral railway cooperation mechanism which, the journalist said, sets the groundwork for enhanced strategic infrastructure connectivity and for progress on standard-gauge rail links between the two countries.

The trip also gave impetus to people-to-people exchanges, with an emphasis on youth interaction and the deep-rooted Vietnam – China relationship that features both comradeship and fraternity, he added.

He further noted that leaders from both countries held in-depth discussions on strategic and overarching issues related to the orientations for developing relations between the two Parties and the two countries, as well as on international and regional issues of shared interest. Together, they charted a new path forward for the future growth of bilateral ties.

Shen cited General Secretary and President Xi as stressing that this traditional friendship continues to thrive. Meanwhile, Vietnamese Party General Secretary To Lam affirmed that his talks with the Chinese leader𒊎 had been highly successful, yielding many important and comprehensive common perceptions on key directions and major measure♑s for advancing the relationship between the two Parties and the two nations in an increasingly substantive manner and to a new height, in a new era of shared prosperity and development./.