Photo: AFP/Zhai Jianlan
Eurasia
24/10/2023 11:02
Vo Van Thuong, Vietnam's No.2 after its Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, held talks with Xi after attending Beijing's Belt and Road Forum, Reuters reported.
"The two sides should adhere to the principle of joint consultation," Xi told Thuong, adding that China and Vietnam should capitalise on their geographical proximity and complementing industries.
China has traditionally strong ties with Vietnam since diplomatic relations were established in 1950, despite a brief war in 1979. Beijing has backed Hanoi’s fight against former colonial ruler France, and later, against Saigon and the US during the Vietnam War.
“Faced with the ever-changing international situation and arduous domestic development tasks, the two countries must not forget the original intention of their traditional friendship,” Xi told visiting Vietnam’s president Vo Van Thuong.
In September, US president Joe Biden visited Hanoi, as a result of the visit Vietnam elevated its ties with Washington to a comprehensive strategic partnership, putting its one-time enemy on par with Beijing and Moscow.
On April 3-4 of this year, Samarkand will host the first-ever high-level meeting between the European Union and the Central Asian countries. This landmark event will open a new chapter in relations between the regions, marking a transition to a qualitatively new level of multilateral cooperation. The very fact of organizing such a dialogue highlights the EU's strong interest in developing cooperation and its commitment to strengthening partnerships with the Central Asian states.
On 31 March, the city of Khujand, Tajikistan, hosted a trilateral summit attended by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, and President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan. This momentous occasion marked the culmination of the border delimitation process among the three nations, a pivotal milestone in Central Asian geopolitics.
The latest issue of Eurasia focuses on agriculture. We conducted an interview with István Nagy, the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, and report on the latest innovations in Asian agriculture.
Hungary is a country with outstanding agricultural traditions. Our excellent livestock, meat products, fruits and their derivatives, vegetables, and field crops rank among the best in the world in terms of quality. However, due to the country’s size, we are incapable of producing quantities relevant to major markets. For a country like Hungary, the key to success lies in regional cooperation and the production of premium products—especially when aiming to enter the Chinese market.