To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese president, has arrived in China for his first state visit and has met with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the past decade, top leaders of these two geographically neighboring and ideologically comrade-like countries have had many rounds of exchange visits and diplomatic interactions, aimed at further deepening and elevating their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.

During the early stages of the SRV, the nation had several difficulties. Similar to China’s reform and opening-up in the 1970s, Vietnam carried out extensive changes known as DoiMoi in the 1980s to further national development. These reforms focused on fusing communist ideals and market procedures.

Vietnam saw significant changes between then and 2016 when the CPV held its 12th National Congress. It went from being an impoverished nation with an antiquated material and technological base, outdated socio-economic infrastructures, and low-level development to a middle-income developing nation with continuously developing culture and society, improved material and spiritual living standards for its people, advancements in Party-building and the establishment of a political system, unwavering national unity, and stable political and social conditions.

Despite their commendable accomplishments, both nations and parties have come to understand that there are numerous benefits and opportunities, as well as difficulties and problems, in both the local and global environments. In terms of foreign relations, the two nations will collaborate to realize the Global Development, Global Security, and Global Civilization Initiatives as well as to create a community with a common destiny. Furthermore, both nations should respect one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, pursue win-win cooperation, equality, and reciprocity, and settle disputes peacefully.

Regarding internal matters, China and Vietnam should prioritize the prosperity and development of their respective populations as well as their well-being. They should also fully utilize industrial complementarity and increase bilateral trade in a balanced manner.

In addition, both parties should work together more to strengthen the Party’s leadership and ability to govern in a dynamic environment. They should also fight against the deterioration of political ideology, morality, and way of life by upholding the concepts of self-evolution and self-transformation and launching an unyielding campaign against corruption, wastefulness, needless formalities, and bureaucracy, among other things.

In the coming decades, the relationship between China and Vietnam will represent more than just diplomatic relations; it will serve as an example of a new kind of cooperation between two socialist nations facing modernization tasks and challenges because of their shared historical background and global context.

About the author- Gao Lei, a special commentator for CGTN, is an associate professor at the Center for Xi Jinping Thoughts on Opening-up, Research Institute of Globalization and China’s Modernization, University of International Business & Economics. Xia Lu, a special commentator for CGTN, is a research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, National Academy for Development & Strategy, the Academy of Xi Jinping Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Renmin University of China. The article reflects the authors’ opinions.