Vietnam-China Cooperation in a New Context: From Maritime Cooperation to Infrastructure Connectivity and Strategic Development

 

 

 

Vietnam and China are neighboring countries with close geographic ties, deep cultural connections, and shared aspirations for peace, stability, and development. In modern history, China was also the first country to recognize Vietnam’s independence and provided substantial support during Vietnam’s struggles for national liberation, reunification, and national development.

 

Throughout its development process, Vietnam has consistently maintained that relations with China constitute both a strategic choice and a top priority within its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, and diversification. Alongside the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and the framework of the Vietnam-China Community with a Shared Future of Strategic Significance, both countries are working toward their respective centennial development goals.

 

These factors demonstrate how historical ties, strong political commitment at the highest levels, and similarities in development orientation have created the foundation for both sides to deepen bilateral relations and pursue long-term strategic cooperation. This process is unfolding amid profound regional and global changes, where opportunities and challenges increasingly overlap and require both countries to adopt flexible policy adjustments, expand cooperation, and manage differences effectively. In this sense, the relationship reflects an effort to align historical foundations, strategic interests, and long-term development objectives.

 

For Vietnam, maintaining an independent and balanced foreign policy, while effectively managing relations with neighboring countries, including China, has remained a consistent strategic priority. At the same time, Vietnam seeks to expand partnerships that can support economic growth, improve infrastructure and logistics networks, and open additional markets for Vietnamese exports. In 2025, Vietnam recorded GDP growth of 8.02%, with the economy reaching USD 514 billion and total trade turnover rising to USD 930 billion. Logistics demand increased by 14-16%, while logistics costs remained as high as 16% of GDP. These figures suggest that Vietnam’s challenges extend beyond sustaining growth and increasingly involve economic restructuring, trade expansion, improvements in connectivity, and greater efficiency in regional economic cooperation, particularly with China.

 

From China’s perspective, intensifying strategic competition among major powers has increased the urgency of maintaining a stable external environment for development. As a result, China has accelerated its neighborhood diplomacy, expanded economic and trade exchanges, promoted infrastructure connectivity, and strengthened cooperation on supply-chain security with regional partners, including Vietnam. This trend has been reflected in bilateral cooperation under the framework of the “Vietnam-China Community with a Shared Future of Strategic Significance,” the 3+3 Strategic Dialogue mechanism involving foreign affairs, defense, and public security officials, and broader cooperation aimed at safeguarding political security and domestic stability in both countries.

 

Against this backdrop, Tô Lâm’s state visit to China helped advance Vietnam’s broader foreign-policy objectives. His itinerary included not only high-level meetings, but also visits related to science and technology, educational exchanges, and interactions with youth and intellectual communities from both countries. These activities illustrated how the two sides are simultaneously pursuing three interconnected goals: reinforcing historical and political foundations, expanding substantive and mutually beneficial cooperation, and strengthening the long-term strategic orientation of bilateral relations. In this regard, the visit represented an important step forward and created new opportunities for deeper strategic cooperation in the evolving regional context.

 

 

Tô Lâm’s state visit to China produced several concrete outcomes for bilateral cooperation. The Vietnamese delegation included nine members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam - six more than during the 2022 visit - highlighting the high level of priority attached to the relationship and the broad scope of discussions between the two sides. During the visit, Vietnam and China signed more than 32 cooperation agreements spanning politics, defense, diplomacy, economics, science and technology, agricultural trade, infrastructure, supply chains, and local-level cooperation.

 

Politically and diplomatically, the visit helped reinforce strategic trust, sustain regular high-level exchanges, and improve coordination in addressing security and development challenges amid an increasingly volatile regional environment. At the same time, the expansion of dialogue mechanisms and substantive cooperation created greater space for managing differences and unresolved issues, thereby contributing to the long-term stability of bilateral relations.

 

 

The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in areas such as cross-border railways, supply chains, customs coordination, and emerging technologies. In 2025, bilateral trade between Vietnam and China reached USD 256 billion, up 25% from the previous year and accounting for nearly 27% of Vietnam’s total merchandise trade. Trade between the two countries has consistently posted double-digit growth in recent years.

 

At the same time, China has remained Vietnam’s largest trading partner for many consecutive years, while Vietnam has become China’s largest trading partner within ASEAN and its sixth-largest trading partner globally. The expansion of economic cooperation also aligns with the broader restructuring of regional value chains, in which infrastructure connectivity and logistics capacity are becoming increasingly important. Greater bilateral cooperation could help both countries identify complementary areas of development, optimize economic structures, and strengthen competitiveness in sectors where each side holds comparative advantages.

 

 

Cooperation in managing maritime differences in accordance with international law reflects a broader regional and global trend, and this issue also saw important progress during the visit. In recent years, the two countries have recorded several notable developments in maritime cooperation, including the 15th meeting of the Vietnam-China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in Hanoi in October 2023; the 8th Vietnam-China Border Defense Friendship Exchange in April 2024; the visit of two Vietnam People’s Navy missile frigates to Guangxi in November 2023; and the 36th joint patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin in December 2023. Together, these activities helped strengthen political trust, expand channels for dialogue, and lay the groundwork for addressing unresolved issues and broadening future cooperation.

 

During the visit, the Joint Statement noted that both sides had conducted “frank and in-depth exchanges” on maritime issues and emphasized the importance of effectively managing differences while maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea. Both countries also reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the common understandings reached by senior leaders and the 2011 Agreement on Basic Principles Guiding the Settlement of Maritime Issues. In addition, they reiterated their commitment to resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation, pursuing long-term solutions consistent with international law - including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) - refraining from actions that could escalate tensions, and advancing negotiations on maritime delimitation beyond the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin.

 

As a result, the principle of resolving South China Sea disputes in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS 1982, was formally incorporated into the 2026 Vietnam-China Joint Statement. This development highlights the importance both countries attach to international legal principles, effective dispute management, and the peaceful handling of maritime disagreements. It may also create new opportunities for cooperation in areas such as maritime delimitation, fisheries management, marine conservation, and the development of a sustainable blue economy consistent with the interests and practical capacities of both countries.

 

 

As part of the visit, Tô Lâm directly observed several major Chinese infrastructure and technology projects, including the country’s high-speed rail system. During the trip, he traveled by high-speed train from Beijing to Hebei to visit the Xiong’an New Area and later took a ten-hour high-speed rail journey from Beijing to Nanning before returning to Vietnam by international rail. These activities underscored the growing prospects for cooperation in infrastructure connectivity, particularly as Vietnam accelerates the development of large-scale transportation networks.

 

China currently operates the world’s largest high-speed railway network, extending more than 50,000 kilometers and reaching design speeds of up to 350 km/h. The system was built and brought into operation within just 21 years, beginning in 2005. By the first ten months of 2025, the network had transported nearly four billion passengers. China’s railway development model has rested on three key pillars: a financing structure that combines central and local resources, with USD 370 billion invested between 2005 and 2015; globally competitive state-owned enterprises capable of reducing construction costs to approximately USD 17-21 million per kilometer; and a high degree of standardization in planning, design, and construction procedures. At the same time, China continues to face challenges related to maintenance costs, technical safety requirements, financial sustainability, and rapid urbanization accompanied by rising real-estate prices around high-speed rail stations.

 

During the visit, the two sides agreed to accelerate three railway connectivity projects: the Lào Cai-Hà Nội-Hải Phòng railway, the Lạng Sơn-Hà Nội railway, and the Móng Cái-Hải Phòng railway. The Lào Cai-Hà Nội-Hải Phòng line alone spans 419 kilometers, carries a total investment value of roughly USD 8 billion, and already had five stations under construction as of December 2025, with completion expected by 2030. The two countries also established an Intergovernmental Railway Cooperation Committee, creating additional opportunities for coordination on Vietnam’s North-South high-speed railway project. That project, which will extend 1,541 kilometers and require more than USD 67 billion in investment, is expected to break ground in late 2026. Beyond their economic importance, these projects also carry broader strategic significance by enhancing regional connectivity and laying the groundwork for long-term cooperation between Vietnam, China, and other regional partners amid growing trade, logistics, and infrastructure demands.

 

 

Tô Lâm’s state visit to China in April 2026, together with its many concrete outcomes, has generated new momentum in Vietnam-China relations. The high-level understandings and agreements reached during the visit are likely to deepen and broaden bilateral cooperation in a more substantive and balanced manner across areas such as trade, science and technology, and strategic infrastructure connectivity. At the same time, the visit’s outcomes - particularly the renewed emphasis on managing maritime disputes in accordance with international law - may help both sides more effectively address existing tensions in the South China Sea. Building on this new phase in bilateral relations, Vietnam and China will likely have greater room to explore more sustainable forms of maritime cooperation that align with international legal principles and regional norms, while also advancing the long-term interests of both countries in an evolving strategic environment.

Nguyen Dang Duong and Nguyen Hop Chau
South China Sea Institute, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam 
(The views expressed in this article are solely of the author)