Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng thanked Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong for taking the time for his delegation and expressed his pleasure to visit the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) where he had an opportunity to meet and discuss about a cooperation of fields that both sides are interested in.
Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng confirmed a success of his delegation’s working visit to HCM City in the previous day and believed that a talk between with leaders of GASC and MoCST would bring good results.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Dao Cuong (right) receives Deputy Minister and Deputy Zhang Jiasheng on December 19 in Ha Noi.
Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng said Việt Nam and China were long-standing friendly neighbouring countries, with mountains and rivers connected, and many similarities in culture.
The traditional friendship and cooperation between China and Vietnam have been improved as a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
The cultural exchanges between Viet Nam and China have been constantly promoted, contributing to building a "stronger social foundation" since the State visit to Viet Nam by General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping in November 2023, and especially the State visit to China by General Secretary and President of Viet Nam To Lam in August 2024.
Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng said both two sides worked hard to promote not only political, economic and diplomatic cooperation but also culture, tourism and sports tie. The important results achieved in sport cooperation between the two countries contributed to build increasingly better bilateral relationship.
A clear evidence of good relations in sports and physical training was that the two countries paid high attention to send experts and high-quality athletes to train in each country.
Notably, many provinces in China, especially Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong regularly have cooperative activities with Viet Nam in the field of sport training and education.
Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng expected that these achievements would contribute to further cooperation development in the field of sports between China and Viet Nam.
Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong appreciated and thanked Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng for his complimentary world and respect for the cooperation between the two countries in the field of sports and physical training. He confirmed good results of a Vietnamese delegation’s visit and work in Guangdong and Guangxi about sports infrastructure recently.
Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong further affirmed that success and the working visit of Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng to the MoCST would be a testament to Viet Nam's efforts to upgrade the two sides’ cooperative relations in the field of sports.
On this occasion, he also proposed cooperation plans in the near future with some issues that need to be implemented as soon as possible.
First, two sides should consider re-signing their Cooperation Agreement in the field of sports and physical training. At the same time, two sides should consider signing a Memorandum of Understanding focusing on training activities and experts exchanges, and coordinating to organize cross-border sport competitions such as cycling, motor racing, auto racing and marathons under the management of the Sports Authority of Việt Nam (SAV) and Guangxi and Yunnan provinces’ sports departments
Second, China should consider sending high-profile experts to train Vietnamese athletes.
Third, China should support to train Vietnamese athletes in China to prepare for the SEA Games, Asian Games (ASIAD) and Olympics. Clarifying this issue, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong said that in November 2024, a SAV delegation came to survey training locations for Vietnamese national teams in three provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi and Yunnan. Their reports showed that the training centres in these localities reached national standards. Some of them were built at international quality.
The delegation of the State General Administration of Sports of China led by Deputy Director Zhang Jiasheng (seven, left) visits the headquarter of the Việt Nam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on December 19 in Ha Noi.
The modern and advanced facilities and equipment met the standards and requirements for high-performance sports based on the international professionalization and professionalism. In particular, they all meet the needs of 4-star standard or higher for elite athletes. These were ideal centers for key Vietnamese athletes to train in the future.
Fourth, China should consider training human resources for Viet Nam’s sport industry. This was a particularly important issue for the national sports development.
Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong proposed Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng to work with relevant authorities to prioritize a number of scholarships from the Chinese Government to train Vietnamese sport people in various fields that were China’s strong points such as: Sports Management, Sports Medicine, Sports Science at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
The final issue was about the collaboration on Sports Medicine and Science, two of China’s strength.
The country successfully applied modern scientific technology to support the training of professional athletes in their expertise, nutrition and injury recovery and treatment.
Besides, the application also effectively served the development of mass sports in China.
Therefore, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong expected to increase Viet Nam’s opportunities to learn and exchange more with the neighboring country in the field of research and application of modern science and technology.
In particular, to strengthen exchange activities between the people of the two countries, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong proposed the sixth issue of organizing friendly sport tournaments between Viet Nam and China.
He added that Việt Nam would organize the 10th National Sports Games in 2026. He hoped that prior to that event, a Vietnamese delegation would be allowed to attend the 15th National Games of China in the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area in October/November 2025. They would witness the top competition held every 4 years of China, one of the world sports powerhouses. They would survey how to operate major sporting events and exchange and cooperate with sports units of the General Administration of Sports of China.
In his respond, Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng agreed in terms of policy with the proposals from Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong,
He said that considering re-signing the Cooperation Agreement in sports and physical training between the two sides needed to be done and must be done soon to serve as a basis for implementing cooperative activities in this field.
Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng said that he would ask relevant units in China to coordinate with MoCST’s units and the SAV for further works and discussion regarding other proposals such as key sports training support, exchanging sport delegations, enhancing sport exchange and cooperation activities in Sports Medicine and Science,
Deputy Minister Zhang Jiasheng hoped that in the upcoming time the two countries would continue to show mutual support in all cooperative activities in sports and physical training. It would contribute to the further development of traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between China and Viet Nam./.
Thanh Ha