Three months ago, Vietnam hosted President Joe Biden’s with immense diplomatic dexterity and signed Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. It has now concluded a highly successful visit by President Xi Jinping to Vietnam adding further weight to the 2008 Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership under the “16 Words” Guideline and the spirit of “Four Good”.

At the heart of their bilateral relations are contacts between the Communist Parties of the two countries who have not only sustained communications during difficult and tense moments, but also facilitate training of members between the two Parties. The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has hailed President Xi Jinping visit, and Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary observed that “Vietnam considers developing the relationship with China its top priority and a strategic choice,” On his part, President Xi Jinping, ahead of his trip, in a signed article wrote “China and Vietnam are connected by mountains and rivers. We enjoy cultural proximity, cherish the same ideals, and have a ‘shared future’ ahead of us,”

The idea of ‘shared future’ draws from Chinese vision for a new global order labelled as “Community with a Shared Future,” It was first propounded in 2013 by President Xi in his address at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Since then the idea has been “steadily enriched” and according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Vision includes “The Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative”. These have “borne fruits, bringing prosperity and stability to the world and creating substantive benefits for the people”. It was finally announced in September 2023 and has been socialized in Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Mongolia and South Africa and now with Vietnam.

President Xi and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong jointly announced their decision to “build a China-Viet Nam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, thus ushering in a new stage in the relations between our two parties and countries. This is a major strategic decision we have made to revitalize world socialism and ensure long-term stability and security of our two countries. It is rooted in our traditional friendship and represents the shared interests and aspirations of our two peoples”.

As many as 36 cooperation agreements and pacts (on digital economies and digital data, railway cooperation and road connectivity in border areas, as well as bilateral investment cooperation in green development) were signed by the two countries.

The visit also gains significance given that the two countries have witnessed several ‘highs’ (increased bilateral trade, COVID 19 support, new development projects, etc.) as also ‘lows’ (issues concerning South China Sea, harassment of Vietnamese fishermen by Chinese maritime militia, etc.) in their relations. In the last three decades, the bilateral trade has grown from US$ 32 million in 1991 to US$ 165.9 billion in 2021. As regards investments, in 2022, China ranked 6th out of 139 countries and territories investing through FDI in Vietnam; there were 3,453 projects valued at US$ 22.42 billion in various stages of development.

China provided Vietnam medical support for prevention and control of the COVID 19 pandemic epidemic. It provided vaccines to Vietnam and at the end of 2021, China aided 7.3 million doses and commercially supplied about 45 million doses of vaccine. Also, through the Communist Party route, China gifted Vietnam medical supplies worth 1.5 million CNY (about 5.4 billion VND).

As far as strategic and security issues are concerned, Vietnam and China have major differences over boundary issues in East Sea/South China Sea. However, in the Gulf of Tonkin, the Vietnamese and Chinese Coast Guards conducted a joint patrol from November 29-December 01 along the demarcation line (255.5 nautical miles) in the Gulf of Tonkin thereby “contributing to strengthening peace, stability and the rule of law at sea”. In the above context, according to the state-run Vietnam News Agency, Vietnam and China have “agreed to set up a hotline to communicate about “unexpected incidents arising from fisheries activities at sea””,

Finally, while Beijing has attempted to court Hanoi hoping to get it on its side, the latter has successfully managed bilateral relations with the US. Vietnam’s diplomatic manoeuvers particularly those involving major powers (China and the US) as well as medium powers (India and Japan) are worth emulating by smaller countries.

Dr. Vijay Sakhuja is associated with Kalinga International Foundation, New Delhi and is Emeritus Professor of Research, SoA Center for Integrated Maritime Studies and Research (SOACIMSR), Siksha 'O' Anusandhan University, Bhuvneshwar, Odisha, India.