Hanoi (VNA) – The success of the13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) will be a strongand firm political guarantee for the development of socialism in Vietnam andprovide a new driving force for the country’s  socio-economic development,said Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo.

In a recent interview with the Vietnam NewsAgency ahead of the Congress, he said the CPV, founded by President Ho ChiMinh, is the genuine representative of fundamental interests of the Vietnamesepeople. Over the 91 years since its establishment, the CPV has led theVietnamese people to take firm steps forwards and make historic contributions forthe sake of national independence, liberation, and development and the people’shappiness.

The 13th National Party Congress is asignificant political event of the CPV and State of Vietnam, the ambassadorsaid, expecting that it will elect an unyielding and strong Party CentralCommittee for the new tenure that will win over the people’s wholeheartedsupport and trust to continue leading the country’s socialism building to evengreater success.

According to Xiong Bo, the internationalcommunity, including China, pays special attention to the CPV’s 13th NationalCongress. China’s Party General Secretary and State President Xi Jinping,during the phone talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Phu Trong lastSeptember, underlined that the Communist Party of China supports the CPV tosuccessfully organise the 13th national congress and is ready to continueassisting Vietnam in socialism building.

The diplomat went on to say that since the 12thNational Party Congress, under the steadfast leadership of the CPV CentralCommittee, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the Vietnamese Partyand Government have stepped up the Party building, the corruption combat,reforms, and development.

Since 2020, facing serious impacts of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the CPV Central Committee has maintained strategicpersistence and solidarity to lead the entire Party, army, and people toweather difficulties and realise the twin targets of fighting against thepandemic and sustaining socio-economic development, with growth of 2.9 percent- one of the world’s fastest growth rates last year.

Ambassador Xiong Bo also noted that as Chair ofASEAN and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2020, Vietnamsuccessfully organised meetings within the East Asia cooperation framework,actively advocated multilateralism and free trade, promoted regionalanti-pandemic cooperation, and improved its influence in the region and theworld.

In particular, the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP), signed last year, is currently the largest freetrade agreement around the globe, he noted, describing this as a success ofmultilateralism and free trade that will fuel growth momentum for the regionaland global economy.

The development achievements Vietnam has obtained,especially the successful response against COVID-19, are all attributable tothe CPV Central Committee’s steadfast leadership and the people’s support, likein China. This has reflected the unique advantages of the socialist regimes inthe two countries, he added.

In the interview, the ambassador held that PartyGeneral Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has been “extremely clear-sighted and sober”in the face of the current context. He quoted the Vietnamese Party leader as sayingthat the 13th National Party Congress takes place amid a fast and complicatedlychanging world, the Party is still facing a number of difficulties andchallenges, and that firmly maintaining the Party’s revolutionary andtrailblazing nature and building an increasingly clean and strong Party are theprerequisites for continuous development.

“We expect that under the leadership of the newCentral Committee, the CPV will continue to maintain and enhance its leadershiprole, actively seek ways to build and develop socialism in the new historical context,and make new theoretical and practical contributions, based on the goals to beset at the 13th National Congress, to attain greater progress in Vietnam’ssocialism building efforts,” the Chinese ambassador said.

He emphasised that 2021 is the first year of the13th-tenure CPV Central Committee and also the first year China begins a newstage of enhanced comprehensive national construction and modernisation.

He went on to say that in the new context, thetwo Parties and countries should strengthen solidarity and cooperation, addingthat China is ready to join Vietnam in seriously realising the important commonperceptions shared between the two Parties and countries’ leaders, increasing high-levelstrategic exchange and experience sharing, boosting connecting developmentstrategies, and expanding result-oriented cooperation in all fields, therebyreaching a new height in both countries’ socialism building and bilateralrelations./.