China and Vietnam signed 10 agreements to deepen cooperation in various fields

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday signed 10 agreements with Vietnam covering agricultural cooperation and cross-border QR code payments during his official visit to the country.

China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and an important source of imports for its manufacturing sector. In the first three quarters of this year, bilateral trade between the two countries increased by 21 percent year-on-year to $148 billion.

The signing ceremony was held Sunday after a meeting between Li and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Triang. A day earlier, Li Qiang had met with the General secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President Su Lin, and the two sides reached a consensus to further strengthen economic cooperation and trade in agricultural products.

The two sides also signed a document on the progress of the site investigation of the cross-border rail link project. Although the two countries have repeatedly expressed their intention to move forward with the rail link project, no specific plans or estimated costs for the upgrade project have been released.

At present, the railway between the two countries mainly relies on a rail system connecting Kunming in China's Yunnan province with Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong in Vietnam. The railway was built in Vietnam during the French colonial era and is still in use today, while the domestic part of China has been upgraded to high-speed rail.

In addition, the Vietnam State Payment Company and China UnionPay International signed an agreement on Saturday (12) to promote the construction and development of cross-border payment systems between the two countries.