New Chinese Consul General hopes Ho Chi Minh City will become an international metropolis

Chinese Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Duong Lap hopes that the merger of provinces and cities will elevate Ho Chi Minh City to a megacity with regional and international influence.

Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Loc Ha (left) and Chinese Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Duong Lap performed the "eye-pointing" ceremony to open the reception to celebrate the 76th anniversary of China's National Day - Photo: NGOC DUC

On the evening of September 12, the Chinese Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City held a reception to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the beginning of Chinese Consul General Tang Li's term in Vietnam.

Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Loc Ha, Deputy Secretary of Can Tho City Party Committee Nguyen Tuan Anh and leaders of many southern provinces and cities attended the program.

Expectations for Ho Chi Minh City to become an international megacity

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Consul General Duong Lap shared that 2025 is the year to celebrate many major milestones for both Vietnam and China, such as the 80th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day, the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and national reunification, the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Vietnam diplomatic relations, and the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people's war of resistance against Japan.

Chinese Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Duong Lap speaks at the program - Photo: NGOC DUC

Mr. Duong Lap used the words "happy" and "lucky" three times when mentioning the opportunity to work in Ho Chi Minh City.

He shared: "I am extremely happy and lucky to be the 10th Consul General of China in the city named after President Ho Chi Minh .

I am also happy because although I have been in office for less than three months, I have fully experienced the hospitality and kindness of the Vietnamese people and the strong vitality of Vietnamese society...

I was also extremely fortunate to witness the historic administrative reform and merger of provinces and cities in Vietnam right at the beginning of my term."

The Chinese Consul General assessed that the consolidation of resources and expansion of development space for southern provinces and cities, including Ho Chi Minh City, is not only a geographical reform but also represents a new governance mindset and development model, creating an important foundation for the rise of the Vietnamese nation and realizing Vietnam's hundred-year goal.

On that basis, Mr. Duong expects the new Ho Chi Minh City to become a megacity with regional and international influence.

He pledged: "The Chinese Consulate General wishes to strengthen cooperation with provinces and cities in the southern region of Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, to contribute to the prosperous development of localities after administrative reform.

The China-Vietnam friendship is increasingly strong, and the future still needs to be cultivated together. As the new consul general, I will seriously fulfill my mission, strengthen exchanges and learn from you, and make every effort to promote friendly exchanges and substantive cooperation between China and southern Vietnam in all fields."

Confidence in Ho Chi Minh City as a priority for Chinese investors

Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Loc Ha speaks - Photo: NGOC DUC

On behalf of the leaders and people of Ho Chi Minh City, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Loc Ha sent warm congratulations and wished China more and more prosperity and development, and its people more and more well-being and happiness.

Mr. Ha assessed that after 76 years under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people have achieved great achievements, admired by the whole world. In particular, the miracles achieved in 47 years of reform and opening up have made China become the world's leading economy.

The Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee affirmed: "Vietnam's consistent policy of developing a stable, healthy, friendly and cooperative relationship with China is the top priority strategic choice in its overall foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification of international relations."

According to Mr. Ha, in recent years, economic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and China has maintained strong development. Vietnam is China's largest trading partner in ASEAN and fifth largest in the world, while China is Vietnam's largest trading partner, largest import market, and second largest export market.

At the local level, so far, Ho Chi Minh City has established friendly and cooperative relations with 8 Chinese localities. The total trade turnover between Ho Chi Minh City and China in 2024 is 24.4 billion USD. In the first 6 months of this year, this figure was 11.78 billion USD.

Currently, there are 71 representative offices of Chinese enterprises operating in the city.

On that basis, the city's leaders believe that after the merger, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to be a priority destination for Chinese investors and cooperation between the two sides will continue to be strongly promoted, especially in strategic areas such as infrastructure, smart cities, innovation, digital transformation, and green transformation.

NGOC DUC

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tan-tong-lanh-su-trung-quoc-ky-vong-tp-hcm-thanh-sieu-do-thi-quoc-te-20250913001231487.htm