Attending the conference were Hầu A Lềnh, Member of the Party Central Committee, Party Secretary of Tuyên Quang province; Trịnh Việt Hùng, Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Party Secretary of Lào Cai province; Trần Tiến Dũng, Party Secretary of Điện Biên province; Lê Minh Ngân, Party Secretary of Lai Châu province; Nguyễn Minh Vũ, Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam; and the Consul General of Vietnam in Kunming (China).

From the Yunnan province (China) side was Wang Ning, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Yunnan province.

Following the success of the 4th annual conference in June 2024, the provinces of Điện Biên, Lai Châu, Lào Cai, Tuyên Quang, and Yunnan have strived to overcome difficulties and actively implement the agreed-upon content. As a result, the friendly neighborly relationship has been maintained, political trust has been enhanced, difficulties and obstacles in the cooperation process have been promptly resolved, territorial sovereignty and border security have been basically stable, and economic-trade cooperation has continued to be promoted, bringing practical benefits to the people on both sides.

Cooperative relations between all levels and sectors of the two sides have become closer and more substantive. The two sides regularly exchange diplomatic notes, official letters, and congratulatory messages, organizing 548 meetings and exchanges, and actively establishing new cooperation mechanisms. The “friendly border village” twinning model continues to be maintained, contributing to strengthening solidarity, mutual assistance, and building a border of peace, friendship, and development.

In the economic-trade field, the two sides have created favorable conditions for vehicles and goods to be cleared at border gates, maintaining stable import-export activities, with the total turnover between the four Vietnamese border provinces and Yunnan province reaching USD 7.2 billion. The Vietnam-China International Trade Fair is held alternately, contributing to expanding trade connections. At the same time, attention is paid to effectively implementing cooperation content in the fields of agriculture, culture, tourism, education, training, health, border gate and crossing construction, and border management.

The 5th annual conference is an important milestone for the provinces to continue maintaining and expanding comprehensive cooperation in the coming time, moving deeper and bringing practical efficiency.

At the conference, the parties exchanged, discussed, and proposed cooperation content aimed at further promoting the potential and advantages of the four Vietnamese border provinces and Yunnan province (China) for continued development in 2026 and the following period.

Speaking at the conference, Party Secretary Trần Tiến Dũng affirmed: After the success of the 4th conference, activities between Điện Biên province and Yunnan province have been prioritized and promoted to implement the signed minutes, making them more substantial and effective in all fields. The two sides have maintained high-level delegation exchanges and flexibly shared experiences through Party, government, and people-to-people channels, contributing to tightening solidarity and mutual understanding. In the field of education and training, the Điện Biên provincial Department of Education and Training has signed 5 memorandums of understanding on human resource training cooperation with educational institutions in Yunnan province. In economy and trade, the two sides have actively coordinated to organize fairs, trade promotions, and business-to-business connections both domestically and abroad. Điện Biên has participated in many outstanding events such as the Vietnam-China International Tourism and Trade Fair in Lạng Sơn, the Vietnam-Laos-China Pone throwing festival in Phongsaly (Laos), and various fairs and cultural festivals in Pu’er, Yunnan. Cultural, sports, and people-to-people diplomacy activities have been vibrant and diverse. Many communes and towns on both sides of the border maintain friendly twinning relationships, with regular visits and cooperation.

In addition, the two sides have strengthened professional exchanges, organizing many training courses on cultivation and animal husbandry techniques, and the application of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) for preventing diseases in crops and livestock. The border protection forces of the two provinces regularly exchange information, coordinate patrols, prevent crime, control immigration and emigration, and maintain security and order in the border region. Notably, the two sides are actively completing procedures to soon officially open the A Pa Chải - Long Phú bilateral border gate, creating momentum to promote cooperation and border gate economic development.

To continue expanding and improving the efficiency of the friendly and cooperative relationship in the coming time, Party Secretary Trần Tiến Dũng proposed several points: Recommending that Yunnan province direct the preparation of necessary conditions for goods clearance through the Long Phú border gate, while also completing legal procedures and reporting to competent Chinese authorities for approval to officially open the A Pa Chải - Long Phú bilateral border gate. Creating favorable conditions for Yunnan province enterprises to link up in developing raw material zones for industrial crops such as macadamia and coffee; at the same time, introducing enterprises to invest in the deep processing of Điện Biên province’s agricultural products; establishing tourism routes and creating conditions for tourism activities so that tourism becomes a bright spot in the cooperation between the two provinces in the near future; paying attention to and directing functional forces to coordinate in crime prevention, especially drugs and high-tech crime, and coordinating the implementation of judicial assistance requests in criminal matters as directed by the Ministries of Public Security of the two countries.

Speaking at the conference, Secretary of the Yunnan provincial Party Committee, Wang Ning, affirmed that Yunnan province will continue to coordinate closely with Vietnam’s border provinces in expanding comprehensive cooperation, promoting connectivity in transport, trade, and tourism, and improving the quality of economic cooperation in the border region, aiming for mutual prosperous development.

The Secretary of the Yunnan provincial Party Committee proposed that the parties maintain the annual conference mechanism and effectively implement the contents of the 5th conference’s minutes, considering this a sustainable political cooperation framework that contributes to building the Vietnam-China border region of peace, stability, friendship, and long-term cooperation.

The 5th Conference achieved high consensus on the direction of cooperation for the coming time in the spirit of "Four Mores": Friendly exchanges becoming closer; substantive cooperation becoming deeper; fields of cooperation being expanded; and people-to-people exchanges becoming more bonded.

The parties agreed to sign the minutes of the 5th annual conference between the Party Secretaries of Lai Châu, Điện Biên, Tuyên Quang, Lào Cai provinces (Vietnam) and the Party Secretary of Yunnan province (China). They also agreed that the 6th annual conference between the provincial Party Secretaries will be chaired and hosted by Yunnan province (China) in 2026.

Within the framework of the conference, agencies, units, and localities of the two sides signed 14 cooperation agreements in various fields, creating an important foundation for implementing specific action programs in the time to come.