Secretary of China’s Jiangsu provincial Party Committee Lou Qinjian (R) and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (Photo: VNA)

He made the statement during a meeting with National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in Nanjing city, the capital of Jiangsu province on July 8.

With a population of nearly 80 million people, Jiangsu is the second largest economy of China, growing by 6.7 percent per year.

There are nearly 600 Vietnamese students in Jiangsu, which is now home to nearly 100 tertiary education establishments, more than those in Beijing and Shanghai. The province also takes the lead in science-technology application, he said.

According to the host, the province has a railway route connecting with seaports in the west of China. It is in the process of economic restructuring and also strong in manufacturing and processing.

NA Chairwoman Ngan, for her part, said it is her first visit to Nanjing and her ongoing visit is made at the invitation of Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China Li Zhanshu.

She affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State always treasure Vietnam - China traditional friendship fostered by Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zhedong and generations of predecessor leaders, which is also an invaluable common asset of the two Parties, States and peoples.

Ngan expressed her delight that Jiangsu contributed more than 15 billion USD to over 100 billion USD in two-way trade.

She said Vietnam has joined a number of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements with countries globally, recently the European Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the EU – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement.

She hailed China as Vietnam’s largest trade partner while Vietnam is China’s largest trade partner in ASEAN.

In Vietnam’s external policy, China is a partner of top significance, especially in politics, diplomacy, economy, science-technology, and people-to-people exchange, she said.

Reviewing bilateral education and tourism links, the top legislator said chartered flights have carried passengers from Nanjing, Changzhou to Nha Trang, Da Nang, among others.

On people-to-people exchange, she wished that Chinese localities, including Jiangsu, would realise commitments reached during visits by the two countries’ leaders, thus further deepening bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership./.

VNF/VNA