Premier Li calls on Chinese, Vietnamese entrepreneurs to boost cooperation

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday called on Chinese and Vietnamese entrepreneurs to actively follow the general trend, better seize opportunities and further strengthen cooperation for greater development of their own businesses and contribute to the common development of the two countries.

He made the remarks when addressing a symposium gathering representatives of Chinese and Vietnamese entrepreneurs. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also attended the symposium.

Li noted that in recent years, with joint efforts from both sides, China-Vietnam relations have developed steadily, and practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results.

China and Vietnam are traditional socialist friendly neighbors, and their respective development is an important opportunity for each other, he said, adding that economic and trade cooperation has always been a highlight of China-Vietnam cooperation and an important source of driving force for advancing bilateral ties.

Looking ahead, Li said, there is still more space for expansion and greater potential to be tapped in the further alignment of the development strategies of the two countries, stronger connectivity, the release of complementary advantages, as well as economic and trade cooperation.

The two countries share the same social system, strong political mutual trust, geographical proximity and affinity among their people, and enjoy a profound friendship of "comrades and brothers," which has laid a solid foundation for bilateral cooperation. The Chinese premier called on the entrepreneurs to more actively engage in national development strategies, and make full use of multilateral and bilateral economic and trade cooperation agreements and policy dividends such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

Li proposed that the entrepreneurs should jointly promote the integrated development of industries, deepen mutual integration of supply and demand, and build stable and smooth cross-border industrial and supply chains.

He also encouraged the two countries' entrepreneurs to pool innovation and creativity, and strengthen the whole-chain innovation cooperation between industry, academia, research and utilization, with a particular focus on clean energy, biomedicine and artificial intelligence, so as to jointly foster and strengthen new driving forces for the development of the two countries.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that under the guidance of the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, Vietnam and China have deepened and solidified bilateral relations, bringing the ties into a new era of building a community with a shared future for Vietnam and China.

Noting that China is Vietnam's largest trading partner, and Vietnam is China's largest trading partner in ASEAN, he said economic and trade cooperation has become a highlight and an important pillar of the friendly relations between the two countries.

Pham Minh Chinh said Vietnam is willing to work with China in the spirit of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, further give play to complementary advantages, fully tap potential, improve the level of corporate cooperation, promote cooperation on finance, technology, investment, transportation infrastructure, digital economy, green economy, and production and supply chain connectivity, and strengthen coordination within the framework of regional economic integration.

The Vietnamese government will continue to provide a sound business environment for enterprises and welcome Chinese enterprises to continue to expand their investment in Vietnam, he said.

The Vietnamese head of government also expressed the hope that enterprises from the two countries will jointly deepen practical cooperation, and boost the growth of bilateral relations and the respective development processes of Vietnam and China.

Representatives of participating enterprises said that the strategic guidance of the two countries' top leaders has injected strong impetus into China-Vietnam economic and trade cooperation.

They said the Belt and Road initiative is highly compatible with the Two Corridors and One Economic Circle strategy, and the business communities of the two countries are optimistic about the development prospects in each other's markets and have firm confidence in deepening cooperation.

They expressed the willingness to seize opportunities to further promote cooperation on finance, transportation infrastructure construction, digital economy, green energy, communications and logistics.

Premier Li calls on Chinese, Vietnamese entrepreneurs to boost cooperation

Premier Li calls on Chinese, Vietnamese entrepreneurs to boost cooperation

Lebanon is facing renewed calls for a new president to be elected following a two-year power vacuum as the deadly Israeli offensive has thrown the country into turmoil amid fears the crisis could further escalate into a prolonged all-out war.

Lebanon has been without a president since October 2022, when the term of former president Michel Aoun ended. Political divisions and a lack of agreement among parliamentary blocs have resulted in failed attempts to elect a new leader, while the Middle Eastern nation is heavily divided between numerous political forces and different religious sects.

"We know very well that the Lebanese factions are highly influenced by foreign powers that dictate their policies. Some are controlled by the Americans, others by the Gulf, Iran, Syria and more," said local political writer Ramy Naeem.

Parliament member Abdel Rahman Bazry told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) that these conflicting agendas have paralyzed parliament, leading to the presidential post lying empty.

"The parliament is the sole body that has the authority to elect a president and to form a cabinet. Unfortunately some people have been trying to manipulate this by putting certain conditions on the parliament or by really preventing the parliament from going into an election," said Bazry, who represents Sidon in the Lebanese parliament.

The Lebanese death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 2,300 since last October, with over 10,000 injured, while over a million people have been displaced.

Given the severity of this unfolding situation, there's a heated debate over how any potential leader should prioritize handling the current crisis.

"As a member of the opposition, I want a president first who fulfills the demands of the people to end the war, not a president that will back the resistance and Hezbollah," said Naeem.

"The priority is as follows: to keep the internal front more cohesive. Second, to work all together with our government to achieve a ceasefire and third, to elect a president so we can have a new government," said Bazry.

Hezbollah is a major player in Lebanon with 15 seats in parliament and two seats in government. Some Lebanese forces and western powers like the U.S. and France want to exclude the Iran-backed Hezbollah from the equation, and blame the group for dragging the country into a war it cannot win.

But even staunch opponents of Hezbollah know it is unrealistic to dismiss the armed group completely.

"Who elects the representatives in parliament are the Lebanese people. I can't force the Shiites in Lebanon not to vote for their candidates. However, I can tell them that I don't accept your representative to be armed and point a gun at me. No political party has the right to arm itself and violate our constitution," said Naeem.

Many people inside the country are calling for Hezbollah to disarm and merge within the Lebanese military forces. But despite the daily onslaught and air raids from Israel that have been targeting Hezbollah leaders and it's infrastructure, officials say they are still adamant to continue their resistance against the Israeli aggression.

"The resistance is in good shape and we are taking every calculated step to strengthen our stronghold on the field politically and in the war zone," Hezbollah spokesman Mohamed Afify told reporters on Saturday.

Lebanon struggles with internal power vacuum as it battles Israel