General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam met with Li Shulei, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, in Hanoi on Thursday.
Li, who led a CPC delegation on a visit to Vietnam, noted that the Chinese side is willing to work with Vietnam to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the two parties, deepen cooperation in areas such as trade and economy, science and technology, press and publication, culture and tourism, and youth.
China stands ready to make solid progress in the building of the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, Li added.
Lam expressed Vietnam's willingness to maintain close high-level exchanges with China, strengthen exchanges and cooperation across various fields, consolidate public support for bilateral friendship, and work together along the path of modernization.
During the visit, Li also met with Nguyen Xuan Thang, member of the Politburo of the CPV Central Committee and chairman of the Central Theory Council, and held talks with Trinh Van Quyet, member of the Secretariat of the CPV Central Committee and head of the CPV Central Committee's Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilization.
Li also attended the 20th theory seminar between the CPC and the CPV, and delivered a keynote speech.
Vietnamese party chief meets senior CPC official
Two major Qatari energy facilities shut down operations after being damaged during Iran's strikes targeting the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday, adding that the situation had been contained.
QatarEnergy announced on Monday that it had suspended liquefied natural gas (LNG) production following attacks on two of its energy facilities, and on Tuesday said it was suspending production of downstream natural gas products such as urea and methanol.
The shutdown sent gas prices skyrocketing on global energy markets, provoking fears of an energy crisis sparked by the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaking during his weekly press conference, Al-Ansari said that the decision to shut down the facilities was taken as a precaution, to ensure the safety of personnel and infrastructure after the strike damaged key production and processing sites.
"The damage was contained and now the operations to assess, technically, the safety of the facilities is underway. And from the defensive posture, as you have seen, we have been ready in monitoring and dealing with all of these attacks," he said.
Al-Ansari said that Qatar is committed to de-escalating the situation, and added that Qatar had not had any contact with Iran since Feb 28.
"Qatar's diplomatic stance has always been firm and clear: committed to peace, actively promoting de-escalation, advocating dialogue and consultation, and striving to resolve the conflict peacefully," he said.
Major Qatari energy facilities damaged in Iranian strikes: foreign ministry
