Vietnam and China signed 10 agreements ranging from agriculture cooperation to cross-border QR code payments yesterday, during Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s (李強) three-day visit to Hanoi, as the two neighbors seek to boost ties.
China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner and a vital source of imports for its manufacturing sector, with bilateral trade jumping 21 percent for the first three quarters from the same period last year to US$148 billion.
The signing ceremony followed Li’s meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Li and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary and Vietnamese President To Lam, agreed on Saturday to boost economic ties and farm produce cooperation.
Photo: AFP
Chinh asked China to boost agricultural trade with Vietnam, open doors to Vietnamese farm produce and enhance customs clearance at borders, Vietnemese state broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) reported.
Vietnam and China also signed a document on updating progress on cross-border railway links related to site survey.
“The Vietnamese prime minister also suggested the two countries cooperate to implement signed documents on railway links, modern railway development effectively,” VTV reported.
The two neighbors have repeatedly showed interest in boosting rail links but have not announced concrete plans or the estimated costs to upgrade connections.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS