Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng met with Tran Hong Ha, vice prime minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and his delegation on Saturday.

Gong warmly welcomed Vice Prime Minister Tran and his delegation to Shanghai to attend the 6th China International Import Expo on behalf of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.

He said that Shanghai is currently accelerating the construction of a socialist modern international metropolis of world influence in accordance with President Xi Jinping's requirements. Shanghai attaches great importance to friendly exchanges with Vietnam and has achieved fruitful cooperation results since Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City became sister cities in 1994.

As China's largest economic center city, Shanghai is willing to work with Vietnam to strengthen communication and cooperation and to achieve mutual benefits. We hope to further strengthen economic and trade exchanges and warmly welcome more Vietnamese companies to participate in the Import Expo to promote more products and services entering the Chinese market.

We hope to deepen industrial cooperation and actively explore exchanges and cooperation in areas such as urban governance, free trade zones, technological innovation, and green development, to create more cooperation opportunities. We hope to strengthen cultural exchanges and continue to enhance understanding among younger generations to carry forward the traditional friendship between our countries, the mayor said.

Tran said that this year, friendly exchanges between Vietnam and China have been frequent and that their participation in the Import Expo in Shanghai is not only significant for China but also creates an important model for cooperation worldwide.

Vietnam hopes to enhance Vietnamese-Chinese traditional friendship and carry out pragmatic cooperation in areas including connectivity, transportation, agriculture and environmental protection development to benefit both peoples. We congratulate Shanghai on its development achievements and appreciate its development philosophy, hoping that Shanghai can share cooperation opportunities with Vietnamese cities such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Ho Chi Minh City, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning and achieve mutual development, Tran said.