On March 1, 2022, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Liu Jinsong met with Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai. The two sides exchanged views on China-Vietnam relations and international and regional issues of common concern.

Liu Jinsong said, since the beginning of this year, China-Vietnam relations have made new positive progress. General Secretary Xi Jinping and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong exchanged Spring Festival congratulatory letters, steering the development of China-Vietnam relations throughout the year. Prime ministers of the two countries had a phone conversation on the eve of the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, making a comprehensive plan for pragmatic cooperation between China and Vietnam. China thanks President Nguyen Xuan Phuc for his warm congratulatory letter on the occasion of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, which shows Vietnam's support for China in hosting the Games. China is willing to work with Vietnam to follow the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two parties and countries, maintain high-level strategic communication, deepen exchanges and cooperation in fields such as economy, trade, pandemic response, people-to-people and cultural affairs, as well as at sub-national levels, and strengthen coordination and collaboration under frameworks such as the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), so as to constantly elevate the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to new heights.

Citing the Vietnamese saying, "Do not put down your oar just because the waves run high", Liu Jinsong pointed out that against the backdrop of rapidly changing international landscape, Asian countries, including China and Vietnam, should doubly cherish and maintain the hard-won peaceful and stable environment, and firmly say no to returning to the Cold War mentality and engaging in bloc politics. Efforts should be made to uphold the new thinking of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and strengthen solidarity, mutual trust and friendly cooperation.

Pham Sao Mai spoke highly of the sound development momentum of the relations between the two parties and between the two countries, and thanked China for offering direly needed vaccines to Vietnam when the country was facing a daunting task to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. He also thanked China for actively coordinating and maintaining unimpeded trade between the two countries on the basis of ensuring COVID-related safety. Vietnam hopes to strengthen friendly cooperation with China at all levels, by all departments and across various parts of the two countries, so as to boost respective pandemic prevention and control, and economic and social development.

Pham Sao Mai stressed, only by maintaining independence and upholding the central role of ASEAN in regional cooperation can regional countries achieve peace, stability, prosperity and development. Vietnam always pursues an independent foreign policy and is committed to creating a peaceful and stable external environment for national construction and development. Vietnam attaches great importance to developing relations with China.