Address by H.E. Xi Jinping

General Secretary of the Central Committee of

The Communist Party of China and

President of the People's Republic of China

At the National Assembly of Vietnam

6 November 2015

Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung,
Deputies,
Comrades,
Friends,

Good morning! It gives me great pleasure to come to the National Assembly of Vietnam and meet you, deputies and comrades. As the supreme organ of state power, this National Assembly represents the Vietnamese people from all social groups. I am indeed honored to speak to you from this podium.

First of all, on behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese government and people, and in my own name, I wish to express my cordial greetings and best wishes to the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the Vietnamese government and the brotherly people of Vietnam. I also wish to pay high tribute to all friends who have, for many years, worked tirelessly for and made important contribution to China-Vietnam friendship and cooperation.

Seventy years ago, it was at the Ba Dinh Square, not far from here, that the late President Ho Chi Minh announced the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It demonstrated that the CPV, a party founded by President Ho which had a fine tradition of a revolutionary party, had led the Vietnamese people in eventually realizing the great goal of independence and liberation after over 50 years of relentless struggle. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the 40th anniversary of the liberation of south Vietnam and the 125th birthday of the late President Ho Chi Minh. China and Vietnam are as close as one family, and we Chinese share the happiness and joy of the Vietnamese people.

In modern times, both our two countries have traversed an arduous journey from humiliation to independence, from self-seclusion to reform and opening up, and from poverty to prosperity. Since the 1980s, under the leadership of the CPV, the Vietnamese people have upheld socialism and explored a development model suited to Vietnam. You have embarked on a path of socialist reform of and for the Vietnamese people and made significant progress in advancing industrialization, modernization and integration into the world. As a result, profound changes have taken place in Vietnam and the life of the Vietnamese people.

Today, Vietnam is making steady progress toward its goal of turning itself into a modernized and industrialized socialist country. We rejoice at what our Vietnamese comrades have achieved in pursuing socialist reform. I am convinced that under the firm leadership of the CPV, the Vietnamese people will surely score new achievements in the great mission of reform. We will enhance mutual learning and mutual support with our Vietnamese comrades as we have done before and work with you to secure greater progress in advancing our respective causes of socialism and make lives better for our peoples.

Comrades,

Friends,

The Vietnamese people have been pursuing a dream of making Vietnam a prosperous, strong, democratic and equitable country with a high ethical standard. We Chinese people have also cherished a century-old dream of national prosperity and renewal and happiness of the people. The two dreams have much in common and embody our shared aspirations for peace and happiness.

We Chinese love peace. Peace was and remains our gene, and the culture of peace has a long history in China. Over 2,400 years ago, our ancestors said that proper norms should be observed to uphold peace. Desire for peace is deeply-rooted in the hearts of us Chinese and runs in the veins of the Chinese nation. In modern times, China was ravaged by turmoil and war for more than a century and its people suffered untold hardships. That is why we Chinese cherish and value the hard-won peace. China's development is made possible by a peaceful and stable neighboring and international environment. In turn, a stronger China will strengthen the force for upholding world peace and justice.

As I address you, the CPC is leading all the Chinese people, under the great banner of building socialism with distinct Chinese features, in a concerted and all-round endeavor to deepen reform and to exercise law-based governance and strict oversight over party conduct. Our goals are to finish building a society of initial prosperity in all respects when the CPC marks its 100th birthday, and turn China into a modern socialist country that is strong, prosperous, democratic, with a high ethical standard and harmonious when the People's Republic of China commemorates its 100th anniversary.

At the recent Fifth Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee, we charted the course for China's economic and social development in the next five years. We laid out the vision of pursuing innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development and will work hard to turn it into a reality. We also decided to launch a number of major policy initiatives to boost economic and social progress. We will organize and mobilize people of all ethnic groups in China to build on what has been achieved to usher China's economic and social development into a new stage. This will make life better for the Chinese people and enable China to make greater contribution to the lofty mission of peace and development for mankind.

Comrades,

Friends,

China and Vietnam share the same mountains and rivers and have a long history of people-to-people exchanges. In our struggles for independence and liberation, we fought side by side and supported each other and forged profound friendship. In our endeavor to build socialism with distinctive national features, we have drawn on each other's strengths and helped each other. Together, there is so much we have accomplished. China-Vietnam relations have gone beyond bilateral relations in the general sense of the term and taken on strategic significance.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of China-Vietnam diplomatic ties. During General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China last April, we took stock of the past and charted the future course of China-Vietnam relations. We agreed that the traditional China-Vietnam friendship, forged by the older generation of Chinese and Vietnamese leaders represented by Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai and President Ho Chi Minh, is a valuable asset of our two parties, countries and peoples and should be cherished. As an old Chinese saying goes, "Trust is the basis of friendship." China and Vietnam share extensive common interests, and friendship and cooperation underpin our relations. Both sides should act in the larger interests of our friendship and the development imperatives of the two countries, respect each other, expand common ground and manage differences through friendly consultations. Win-win cooperation between China and Vietnam in all areas should be deepened and enhanced because it has benefited our two peoples so much and helps promote peace, stability and prosperity in our region. Such important experiences we have gained constitute a source of inspiration for growing China-Vietnam relations; such consensus reached should guide our efforts to address issues in our bilateral relations.

When brothers are of the same mind, they have the power to cut through a piece of metal. Facing an evolving international and regional landscape, the CPC and CPV will encounter many same or similar new problems and challenges. China and Vietnam are not only friendly neighbors sharing common mountains and rivers. More importantly, our two countries form a community of intertwined interests with shared goals and future. More than ever before, we should assist each other and jointly pursue common progress. China values its relations with Vietnam and will work with Vietnam to uphold long-term stability and a future oriented policy of ensuring good-neighborly friendship and all-round cooperation in China-Vietnam relations. As good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners, we will work to forge a stronger China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to the greater benefit of our peoples.

First, China and Vietnam should be good comrades who trust and support each other. Chairman Ho Chi Minh once said that there is a strong bond between Vietnam and China because we are both comrades and brothers. We share the same political system, same values and vision and well-aligned strategic interests. Both China and Vietnam adhere to leadership of the communist party and are committed to socialism as well as reform and opening up. This is the choice made by history and by our two peoples. We have come a long way on this path, with notable achievements made; we are sure to secure an even brighter future going down this path.

Past progress shows that our future is determined by the path we take, which in turn is determined by the direction we have set. On the major issue of upholding and expanding the development path independently chosen by our peoples, our two parties, governments and peoples should reaffirm our commitment, support each other and advance together. We must never allow anyone to slow our advance or any force to weaken the institutional safeguards of our development endeavors.

China firmly supports Vietnam's cause of reform and sincerely wishes Vietnamese comrades even greater and faster progress in building socialism, and we sincerely wish Vietnam greater success in its development endeavors. We are ready to enhance mutual trust and support with the Vietnamese comrades and jointly contribute to the cause of socialism and development of the human society. We are ready to share with Vietnam the experiences we have gained in various areas of national development and jointly enrich and develop the theory and practices of building socialism.

Second, China and Vietnam should be good partners of win-win cooperation. Today's world is undergoing profound changes, and the international system and order are becoming more just and equitable. But our world is far from peaceful. Local turmoils keep emerging, the specter of terrorism is still around, global growth remains weak and various traditional and non-traditional challenges are interwoven. To maintain world peace and promote common development remains a long-term challenge. We should keep these global developments in mind, keep abreast with the trend of our times and work together to foster a regional order and regional environment that are more favorable to both Asia and the world. China supports Vietnam in playing a bigger role in both our region and the world. We stand ready to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in various international and regional mechanisms so as to uphold our common interests and promote common development of our region.

China and Vietnam enjoy close and mutually complementary economic ties and increasingly converging interests. Economic globalization and regional economic integration present similar opportunities and challenges to both our two countries. China places great importance on aligning our respective development strategies and is ready to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in connectivity and other infrastructure projects, production capacity, investment and trade under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Two Corridors and One Economic Circle plan. In a new era, such cooperation will inject vitality into the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and raise it to a higher level.

Third, China and Vietnam should be close and good neighbors. A good neighbor is invaluable. As the lines of the song Vietnam-China go, "the Chinese and Vietnamese drink water from the same river and see each both in the morning and at night". As neighbors, we maintained close ties in history, fought side by side against foreign aggression in modern times, and are now working together for national renewal and prosperity. The traditional friendship between our two peoples, which has stood the test of drastic changes in the international environment over the years, is an important foundation and inexhaustible driving force for growing China-Vietnam relations. In marking the 65th anniversary of China-Vietnam diplomatic ties, we should keep our bilateral relations on the right track and ensure that China-Vietnam traditional friendship will be carried forward from generation to generation.

As we Chinese often say, both friends and neighbors wish each other well. On the other hand, it's natural for neighbors to have disagreements. What's important is that we must cherish the larger interests of our relations, properly manage differences through peaceful and friendly consultation, and ensure that bilateral relations will not go off track. As a Chinese saying goes, when the primary goal is achieved, secondary issues are easy to handle. I am convinced that under the sound leadership of our two parties and governments, the Chinese and Vietnamese people have full ability and vision to remove all obstacles and make new progress in China-Vietnam good-neighborly friendship and cooperation.

Fourth, China and Vietnam should be good friends who maintain frequent exchanges. Just as the bond between relatives and friends is strengthened by frequent visits, the growth of bilateral relations is driven by friendship between the people. Over three million visits were exchanged between the Chinese and Vietnamese last year, and currently there are 14,000 Vietnamese students in China and around 4,000 Chinese students in Vietnam. These are encouraging figures.

During my talks with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong yesterday, we agreed to increase personnel exchanges and step up exchanges and cooperation in culture, sports, tourism and other areas. We will ensure the success of people-to-people exchange events such as the China-Vietnam People's Forum, Chinese and Vietnamese Youth Festival and China-Vietnam Youth Friendly Meeting, and boost popular support for China-Vietnam relations. We welcome more Vietnamese friends to go to China to study, travel or do business and hope that there will be more frequent and extensive exchanges between our peoples. Such exchanges will undoubtedly enhance our friendship and mutual understanding.

Comrades,

Friends,

During his revolutionary activities in China between 1942 and 1943, Chairman Ho Chi Minh wrote the following line, "When reaching the peak, one will have the whole land in his sight." Wang Bo, a poet of China's Tang Dynasty (618-907AD), also wrote, "When one is on Mount Tai with all the other mountains below him, he will have unhindered vision." China-Vietnam relations have reached a new historical departure point. Let's stand high, look far and work together. By doing so, we will open up a new horizon for China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and contribute more to ensuring durable peace and common prosperity in Asia and the world.

Thank you!