Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh  hosted Mr. Liu Ning, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Secretary of Guangxi Party Committee, and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in Guangxi province's Nanning city, on September 16, while he was there to attend the 20th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS), according to a report from the Vietnam News Agency.

Thanking Guangxi for preserving relic sites related to President Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary activities in the province, he said he hopes that Guangxi will continue playing a pioneering role in promoting substantive exchanges and cooperation between the two nations.

Recalling Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's recent tour of the border gate area in Lang Son province and planting of a "friendship" tree there, PM Chinh said the act manifests importance and top priority attached by the Vietnamese Party and State to the Vietnam - China relations.

Mr. Liu, for his part, affirmed that Guangxi always treasures its friendly and cooperative relations with Vietnamese localities. Following his Vietnam visit in April, he expressed satisfaction about two-way trade between Vietnam and his locality that exceeded $20 billion in the first eight months of this year.

The Vietnamese PM spoke highly of bilateral cooperation potential and outlined six breakthrough areas for cooperation with Guangxi in the coming time, namely infrastructure connectivity, economic-trade-investment cooperation promotion, expanding people-to-people and youth exchanges, close cooperation in the field of border gates, good implementation of three documents on the management of the Vietnam-China land border, and close cooperation in education and training.

Agreeing with PM Chinh’s proposals, the Guangxi leader affirmed that the Party Organisation, authorities and people of Guangxi will follow common perceptions reached by leaders of the two countries and Parties, expand and deepen friendly exchanges with the Vietnamese localities as well.

He promised to work with Vietnamese ministries, agencies and localities to deepen collaboration in six breakthrough directions proposed by the Vietnamese leader, with a focus on stepping up railway and road transportation connectivity, improving customs efficiency through the pilot "smart border gate" model, strengthening port cooperation, and jointly working on cross-border crime prevention, thus contributing to consolidating and deepening bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to bring practical benefits to localities and their people.