REPORT Results of the visit to China and participation in the Judicial Conference. provinces that share a border with China first time

REPORT
Results of the visit to China and participation in the Judicial Conference.
provinces that share a border with China first time
(from June 26, 2025 to June 29, 2025)
 
With the permission of the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee (Official Letter No. 15518-CV/VPTW dated June 20, 2025, from the Party Central Committee Office) and the Prime Minister (Official Letter No. 4266/VPCP-QHQT dated May 15, 2025, from the Government Office), a delegation from the Ministry of Justice, led by Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh, visited China and attended the first Conference of Justice Departments of provinces sharing a border with Vietnam and China from June 26, 2025, to June 29, 2025. The Ministry of Justice respectfully reports to the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee and the Prime Minister on the main results of the trip, specifically as follows:
I. Legal basis and purpose of the business trip
1.1. Legal basis
- The Vietnam-China Joint Statement for 2025, issued during the State visit to Vietnam by General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of China Xi Jinping from April 14-15 , 2025, includes the following content: " to hold the first conference between the administrative and judicial agencies of the provinces sharing a common border between the two countries this year " ;
- Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of China, signed on October 31, 2022;
- The cooperation program between the two Ministries of Justice for the period 2024-2025 was signed on December 8, 2023;
- Agreement between the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of China on organizing the Conference of Justice Departments of provinces sharing a border between Vietnam and China, signed on April 19, 2024;
- The Ministry of Justice's foreign affairs plan for 2025 was approved by the Prime Minister (Official Letter No. 354/BNG-CNV-m dated February 7, 2025, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs);
- Invitation letter dated April 2, 2025 , from the Minister of Justice of China, He Rong.
1.2. Purpose
- Strengthening cooperation in law and justice with China; contributing to further deepening the traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States, and Peoples of Vietnam and China;
- To concretize the 2025 Vietnam-China Joint Statement on legal and judicial cooperation, including " organizing the first conference between administrative and judicial agencies of provinces sharing a common border between the two countries this year " ; to promote cooperation in law and justice between localities in the border areas of the two countries; to promptly resolve legal issues arising between people living in border areas, thereby contributing to building a peaceful, stable and developed border.
- Discussing directions for cooperation in the field of law and justice between the Ministries of Justice of Vietnam and China in the coming period, including reviewing the implementation of tasks in the field of law and justice under the common functions and duties of both sides such as: lawmaking, lawyer management, notarization, forensic examination, mediation, arbitration, legal aid, legal education and dissemination, mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters; reviewing international cooperation activities in law and justice; training and professional development of legal personnel;
II. Main contents and results of the visit
During his working visit to China, the Vietnamese Minister of Justice, Nguyen Hai Ninh, participated in the following activities:
(i) Meeting with Chinese Minister of Justice Xia Rong;
(ii) Meeting with Comrade Tran Van Thanh, Member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of China;
(iii) Greetings to Comrade Shen Chunyao, Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Standing Committee Member of the Central People's Congress of China.
(iv) Meeting with Comrade Tran Cuong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China;
(v) Attending the First Conference of Justice Departments of provinces sharing a border with Vietnam and China (Comrade Nguyen Hai Ninh only attended the Opening Session on June 28, 2025 and returned to Vietnam early on June 29, 2025, as per the content the Ministry of Justice had requested permission from the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee ).
2.1. Meeting with Chinese Minister of Justice Xia Rong
On June 26, 2025, at the headquarters of the Chinese Ministry of Justice, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh A meeting was held with Comrade Ha Vinh, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Minister of Justice of China. Also in attendance was Comrade Ninh Thanh Cong, Deputy Ambassador of Vietnam to China.
Opening the talks, Chinese Minister of Justice Xia Rong welcomed Vietnamese Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh to visit and work with the Chinese Ministry of Justice, affirming that Vietnam and China share a common border and a common political system. The Chinese Ministry of Justice pledged to work with the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice to concretize the common understanding of the high-level leaders of the two countries, contributing to strengthening the close relationship between the two Parties and States for the happiness of the people of both countries.
Minister Ha Vinh recalled fond memories of his visit to Vietnam in April 2024 and highly appreciated the fact that the two Ministries of Justice were organizing the first-ever Conference of Justice Departments of provinces sharing a common border. Congratulating the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam on the recent issuance of Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW on reforming the work of lawmaking and enforcement to meet the development requirements of the country in the new era, Minister Ha Vinh noted that the model of the Central Steering Committee on Institutional and Legal Improvement, recently established in Vietnam, has many similarities to the model of the Comprehensive National Governance Commission of China (chaired by General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, with the Permanent Office located at the Ministry of Justice).
During the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh conveyed greetings from Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long, former Minister of Justice, to Minister Ha Vinh, congratulating China on the great achievements it has made since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China under the leadership of General Secretary and President Xi Jinping. He also congratulated China on the success of the 2025 Two Sessions and the 3rd Session of the 14th National People's Congress, which took place in March 2025.
Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh affirmed that the purpose of this visit is to realize the results of the State visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President Xi Jinping in April 2025. The 2025 Joint Statement between the two General Secretaries mentioned strengthening cooperation in the legal and judicial fields between the two countries and organizing a Conference of Judicial Authorities of provinces sharing a border with Vietnam and China this year. Furthermore, this visit also aims to build upon the achievements of the historic visit of Mr. Ha Vinh in April 2024 – the first visit of a Chinese Minister of Justice to Vietnam.
During the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh highlighted several key points of Vietnam's development in recent times: (i) The Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam recently approved the "four pillars," including: Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science and technology development and innovation, Resolution No. 59-NQ/TW on proactive and deep international integration, Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW on reforming the work of building and implementing laws to meet the development requirements of the country in the new era, and Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW on promoting the development of the private economic sector. In particular, Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW set the goal that by 2030, Vietnam will have a democratic, fair, synchronous, unified, open, transparent, feasible legal system with a strict and consistent implementation mechanism, paving the way for development. (i) The vision for 2045 is for Vietnam to have a high-quality, modern legal system that approaches advanced international standards and is consistent with the country's realities, meeting the requirements of rapid and sustainable national development, becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045; (ii) The Politburo also decided to establish the Central Steering Committee on institutional and legal improvement under the Politburo, chaired by General Secretary To Lam, with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh as Vice Chairman, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man as Vice Chairman, and members including several Politburo members, Secretariat members, Central Committee members, and the Party Committee of the Ministry of Justice, which is assigned as the Standing Agency of the Steering Committee; (iii) The National Assembly passed a Resolution amending and supplementing several articles of the 2013 Constitution to institutionalize the policy of implementing a two-tier local government model. The merger of provinces into 34 provinces and cities was officially announced nationwide on June 30, 2025.
Regarding bilateral cooperation between the two Ministries of Justice, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh reiterated that the cooperative relationship began on the basis of the Cooperation Protocol between the Ministries of Justice of the two countries signed in 1997. However, the implementation activities were quite modest. It was not until 2022, when the two Ministries of Justice signed a Memorandum of Cooperation during the official visit of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to China, that cooperation between the two Ministries was strongly promoted, highlighted by the visit of Chinese Minister of Justice He Rong to Vietnam in 2024. Simultaneously, the two Ministries regularly organize online conferences to share experiences in their respective fields. Regarding local cooperation, the two Ministries also agreed to organize the first Conference of Justice Departments of provinces sharing a border with Vietnam and China on June 28-29, 2025. At the conference, four pairs of regional Justice Departments from the border areas of the two countries will sign cooperation agreements.
To further enhance cooperation between the two Ministries of Justice in the future, Chinese Minister of Justice Xia Rong proposed the following specific solutions:
(i) The two Ministries of Justice successfully organized the first Conference of Justices of Bordering Provinces in Nanning, China , and emphasized that this was a conference that the high-ranking Chinese leaders were very interested in and had given specific guidance on.
(ii) Strengthening exchanges on lawmaking and enforcement, contributing to maintaining social order, public security, human resource training, and improving the judicial assistance mechanism in each country.
(iii) Strengthen the exchange of experience on judicial administrative services, human resource training, talent development, and digital transformation in judicial work. In particular, the Ministries of Justice of the two countries need to quickly establish a cooperation mechanism on resolving civil and commercial disputes out of court, in order to contribute to mediation and the effective handling of arising disputes. Minister Ha Vinh emphasized that disputes arising in the civil and commercial fields are completely normal; the important thing is to have a mechanism for resolving them quickly, effectively, and fairly, in which mediation is encouraged. Minister Ha Vinh also emphasized that, from the Chinese perspective, the legal and judicial elements provide a "guarantee" for the modernization of the country.
Agreeing with Minister Ha Vinh's proposals, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh stated that Vietnam also highly values the organization of the first Conference of Judicial Authorities of Bordering Provinces between Vietnam and China, and basically agrees in principle to establishing a cooperation mechanism between the two sides on resolving disputes outside of court. Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh requested that China further strengthen cooperation in training and developing human resources for the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice. On this occasion, Minister Ha Vinh also conveyed his gratitude to General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and Head of the Central Internal Affairs Commission Phan Dinh Trac for taking the time to receive and work with the delegation from the Chinese Ministry of Justice during their visit to Vietnam in April 2024.
2.2. Meeting with Comrade Tran Van Thanh, Member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China.
On the morning of June 27, 2025, at the Great Hall of the People in China, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh met with Comrade Tran Van Thanh, Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of China. During the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh conveyed greetings from Comrade Phan Dinh Trac , Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and Head of the Central Internal Affairs Commission, to Comrade Tran Van Thanh. Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh stated that the main purpose of this visit was to implement the 2025 Vietnam-China Joint Statement on legal and judicial cooperation, particularly to organize the first Conference of Judicial Authorities of Bordering Provinces between Vietnam and China.
Comrade Nguyen Hai Ninh stated that on April 30, 2025, the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam issued Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW on reforming the work of lawmaking and implementation to meet the development requirements of the country in the new era. Simultaneously, the Central Steering Committee on institutional and legal improvement was established, chaired by General Secretary To Lam, with the Party Committee of the Ministry of Justice as the Standing Agency. Comrade Nguyen Hai Ninh also reported on the results of the talks with Comrade Xia Yong, Minister of Justice of China, and expressed his hope that Comrade Tran Van Thanh, in his capacity, would continue to support strengthening cooperation between the Ministries and branches of justice of Vietnam and China.
Welcoming Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh, Comrade Tran Van Thanh stated that the Communist Party of China is currently very concerned with building and perfecting a socialist rule of law state. China currently has 306 laws and codes; 598 central-level legal documents and 14,000 local-level legal documents. The focus has basically shifted from building a comprehensive legal system to strictly enforcing it; balancing domestic and foreign rule of law, strengthening rule of law within the Party; and considering the rule of law as one of the tools to prevent "color revolutions." Comrade Tran Van Thanh suggested that the two Ministries of Justice should further strengthen cooperation in the fields of commercial mediation, arbitration, and digital transformation of the justice sector, continuously expanding cooperation from the central to local levels for the benefit of the people of both countries.
Concurring with Comrade Tran Van Thanh's opinion, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh affirmed his determination to always closely coordinate with the Chinese Ministry of Justice in realizing the common understanding of the high-level leaders of the two countries on building a Vietnam-China Community with a shared future, which is of strategic significance and in the interest of the people of both countries.
2.3. Working with Comrade Shen Chunyao, Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Standing Committee Member of the National People's Congress of China.
On June 27, 2025, at the National People's Congress headquarters, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh met and worked with Comrade Shen Chunyao, Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress.
Expressing his pleasure at welcoming the Vietnamese Minister of Justice for the first time, Comrade Tham Xuan Dieu introduced the functions and duties of the National People's Congress of China. Accordingly, the National People's Congress of China (full name: the National Congress of the People's Representatives), established in 1957, is the highest representative institution of the people – the body with the power to draft the Constitution and laws. However, the National People's Congress only meets once a year, so the Chinese Constitution stipulates that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (with over 170 members) also has the function of making laws, meeting every two months. The power to enact regulations rests with the Central Government and local governments. The organization of state power at the local level in China is implemented flexibly (including provinces and autonomous regions depending on the situation), aiming to maximize the people's right to self-governance under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, with General Secretary and President Xi Jinping at its core. In addition, Comrade Tham Xuan Dieu stated that the Legal Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress of China has a very close working relationship with the Ministry of Justice of China, and suggested that the Legal Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress of China and the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam should regularly exchange experiences to effectively perform their functions and tasks.
          Expressing his pleasure at visiting and working with the Legal Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress of China, on behalf of the leaders of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh congratulated the National People's Congress of China on its achievements over the past nearly 70 years. Informing Comrade Shen Chunyao, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh stated that legal and judicial work in Vietnam has recently undergone a strong transformation with the Politburo's issuance of Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW on reforming the work of lawmaking and enforcement to meet the development requirements of the country in the new era, and the Vietnamese National Assembly's adoption of a resolution amending and supplementing several articles of the 2013 Constitution. Accordingly, from July 1, 2025, Vietnamese local governments will be organized according to a two-tier model (provincial and commune levels). The Vietnamese Party and State are paying increasing attention to legal and judicial work, considering it one of the three strategic breakthroughs aimed at driving rapid and sustainable national development in the new era.
          Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh requested that the National People's Congress of China in general, and the Legal Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress of China in particular, pay attention to and share experiences on lawmaking and comprehensive national governance in accordance with the law, so that Vietnam can study and refer to them in the process of implementing the Party's new policies in this area.
          At the conclusion of the meeting, both sides agreed to strengthen exchanges and share experiences to promote legal and judicial cooperation between the two countries, in line with the spirit of the Vietnam-China Joint Statement 2025.
2.4. Working with Comrade Tran Cuong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
On June 28, 2025, in Nanning, Guangxi, China, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh held a working meeting with Comrade Chen Gang, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Also attending the meeting from the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice was Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Tinh.
During the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh highly appreciated China's great achievements, especially in the more than 10 years of the new era and since the 20th National Congress under the leadership of the Communist Party with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core. Returning to Nanning after 20 years, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh observed that the city has made remarkable progress in all areas of socio-economic life; it has developed rapidly, is green, clean, beautiful, and rich in identity. In particular, under the leadership of Comrade Chen Gang, who has extensive experience in the field of digital transformation, Guangxi has made many important strides in this area.
          Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh provided a brief overview of the situation in Vietnam, including the streamlining of the administrative apparatus towards efficient, effective, and effective operation. Vietnam's new administrative apparatus will become operational on July 1, 2025. Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh also informed that on April 30, 2025, the Politburo of Vietnam issued Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW on reforming the work of lawmaking and enforcement to meet the requirements of national development in the new era. The Central Steering Committee on institutional and legal improvement is chaired by General Secretary To Lam, with the Party Committee of the Ministry of Justice serving as the Standing Agency. Besides Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW, three other resolutions (Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology and innovation development, Resolution No. 59-NQ/TW on proactive and deep international integration, and Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW on promoting the development of the private economic sector) are identified as the "four pillars" to help the country take off. These are fundamental institutional pillars, creating strong momentum to move the country forward in the new era, realizing the vision of a developed, high-income Vietnam by 2045. Sharing information that Vietnam places AI application and digital transformation as one of the priorities in its legislative work, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh expressed his hope that Comrade Tran Cuong, with his valuable experience, would continue to direct and strengthen coordination between the border provinces of both sides to enhance capacity in this field.
Regarding the first Conference of Judicial Authorities of Bordering Provinces between Vietnam and China, held in Nanning, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh expressed his hope that this would be a good start in judicial cooperation between the bordering provinces of the two sides.
Concurring with Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh, Comrade Tran Cuong thanked the two Ministers of Justice for choosing Nanning as the venue for the conference. In addition, Comrade Tran Cuong also gave a brief overview of the socio-economic development and judicial work in Guangxi. Comrade Tran Cuong also hoped that the Ministers of Justice of both countries would continue to support and strengthen judicial cooperation between Guangxi and neighboring provinces, contributing to building Guangxi into a new model of development in all fields in the future.
2.5. Attending the First Conference of Judicial Authorities of Provinces Sharing a Border with Vietnam and China
On the afternoon of June 28, 2025, the Opening Ceremony of the Conference of Justice Departments of Border Provinces between Vietnam and China was held, co-chaired by Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh of Vietnam and Minister of Justice of China Xia Rong. Attending the conference were Comrade Tran Cuong, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; and Comrade Nguyen Thi Huong, Consul General of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China. Representing the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam were Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Tinh, along with representatives from several units of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Public Security.
In his opening remarks at the Conference, Chinese Minister of Justice Xia Rong emphasized that this Conference is a concrete action to implement the results of General Secretary Xi Jinping's visit to Vietnam and the Vietnam-China Joint Statement 2025, and is also a vivid practice to promote the building of a Vietnam-China Community with a shared future, which has strategic significance in the field of law and justice. Chinese Minister of Justice Xia Rong affirmed that the Chinese Ministry of Justice is ready to work with the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, under the strategic guidance of the high-level leaders of the two Parties, to continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation in the field of law and justice, strengthen exchanges, mutual learning, and practical cooperation in areas such as government lawmaking, legal services, judicial assistance, personnel training, and digital technology application. They will establish mechanisms for resolving civil and commercial disputes related to border residents through various means, jointly promote economic and trade exchanges, as well as security and stability in the region between the two countries, contributing to building a Vietnam-China Community with a shared future, which has strategic significance for sustainable development.
At the opening ceremony, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh extended his congratulations on China's great achievements, especially in the more than 10 years of the new era and since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China under the leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping. Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh also thanked the Chinese Ministry of Justice and the Party Committee and government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for their thoughtful, responsible, and sincere reception and preparation. He expressed his pleasure that in recent times, local judicial agencies of both sides, especially the Departments of Justice sharing a common border between Vietnam and China, have had many exchange activities to share experiences in professional work. He also noted that at this conference, four pairs of local Departments of Justice of the two countries signed cooperation documents, thereby contributing to promoting cooperation in the field of law and justice between Vietnam and China in general, and cooperation between Vietnamese and Chinese localities in particular.
Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh expressed his hope that at this conference, in addition to providing a general overview of the implementation of legal and judicial work under the management of the two Ministries of Justice in general and the practical implementation in border areas between Vietnam and China in particular, the functional units of the Ministries of Justice of both countries would propose specific, feasible, and substantive suggestions to strengthen cooperation mechanisms between local justices. These suggestions include enhancing the application of digital technology in the legal field, training legal human resources, researching and promoting mechanisms for resolving civil and commercial disputes through arbitration and commercial mediation, in order to ensure compliance with the law and create the most favorable conditions for people living in the border areas of the two countries, contributing to building a peaceful, friendly, cooperative, and developing border; promoting a comprehensive development partnership between the two Parties and States, and jointly building a strategically significant community of shared future.
At the Conference, Comrade Tran Cuong, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China; and Comrade Nguyen Thi Huong, Consul General of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China, also delivered welcoming speeches to the Conference.
Continuing the program of the First Conference of Judicial Authorities of Bordering Provinces between Vietnam and China, on June 29, 2025, under the co-chairmanship of the Vice Minister of Justice of China, Li Mingzheng, and the Vice Minister of Justice of Vietnam, Nguyen Thanh Tinh, the Conference took place with thematic discussion sessions covering four topics: lawyer management, mediation, international cooperation and mutual legal assistance in civil matters, and human resource training. In these discussion sessions, focusing on the four aforementioned topics, both sides presented 30 papers (15 from Vietnam and 15 from China) on the current status of implementing tasks related to lawyer management, mediation, international cooperation and mutual legal assistance in civil matters, and human resource training. From there, both sides proposed solutions to improve the effectiveness of the aforementioned tasks, while strengthening cooperation between Vietnam and China, contributing to promoting cooperation in the field of law and justice from the central to local levels, and helping to create conditions for people in border areas to live peacefully and stably.
At the conclusion of the discussion session, the two sides announced the Conference's Common Understanding, according to which they agreed: (i) the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice will coordinate with the Chinese Ministry of Justice to soon finalize and sign the Cooperation Plan between the two Ministries of Justice for the period 2026-2027; (ii) negotiate and sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of commercial mediation and arbitration to resolve commercial disputes in the border region; maintain the mechanism of the Conference of Justice of provinces sharing a border between Vietnam and China on a rotating basis every two years; (iii) effectively implement the Memorandum of Cooperation between the two Ministries of Justice signed in 2022, and the cooperation documents that the two sides just signed at the Conference (including four Cooperation Agreements between the Department of Justice of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and local Departments of Justice of Vietnam and the Memorandum of Cooperation between Hanoi Law University under the Ministry of Justice and Guangxi Zhuang University).
In his closing remarks at the Conference, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Tinh assessed that the Conference had given both sides a relatively clear picture of the results of the two Ministries of Justice's performance of their functions and duties in lawmaking and enforcement, focusing on legal work, mediation, mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters, and legal human resource training. He also noted that the Conference had discussed coordinated solutions to effectively carry out these tasks in the future between the two countries, especially in civil exchanges between people in border areas and promoting cross-border trade. Based on this, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Tinh proposed that both sides pay attention to and implement the following activities:
- The two Ministries of Justice will coordinate in reviewing and assessing the harmonization of commercial laws between China, Vietnam, and ASEAN countries. Based on international trade practices, they will jointly propose and recommend solutions to improve the institutional framework of each country to promote the effective development of cross-border trade between Vietnam and China and ASEAN countries, thereby contributing to economic development in the region.
- Directing the development of organizational models for mediation and arbitration to resolve civil, economic, and commercial disputes in border areas.
          - It is proposed that the two Ministries of Justice coordinate research on the legal framework, regulating the construction, operation, and use of a large-scale, cross-border, multilingual legal data platform, as well as the development, management, and use of AI in law to enhance the effectiveness of law dissemination and enforcement, serving civil exchanges between people in border areas and cross-border trade activities to serve the people and businesses of both countries, while ensuring the sovereignty and interests of each country, based on the principles of equality, consensus, and mutual development.
- It is proposed that the two Ministries of Justice agree to assign relevant units, Departments of Justice, and localities sharing a common border between the two countries to build upon the results of recent judicial exchanges and develop a plan to implement the agreements recently signed between the Departments of Justice and the two law training institutions of the two countries. In particular, the results of the discussions at this Conference should serve as the basis for the two Ministries of Justice to develop and draft a framework for cooperation in the coming period.
Chinese Vice Minister of Justice Li Mingzheng highly appreciated the results of the Conference and affirmed that the Chinese Ministry of Justice is always ready to promote cooperation, deepen judicial relations, create new highlights, and promote judicial exchanges and cooperation to a new level in the spirit of " being comrades and brothers ".
III. Comments and Recommendations
1. Comments
Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh's working visit to China and participation in the first Conference of Justice Departments of Bordering Provinces between Vietnam and China was a great success, contributing to deepening the cooperative relationship between the two Ministries of Justice in particular, and between the two countries in general. In terms of content, the trip achieved the objectives set out in the report submitted to the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee and the Prime Minister, especially the effective participation in the first Conference of Justice Departments of Bordering Provinces between Vietnam and China, aimed at implementing the Common Understanding agreed upon by the high-level leaders of both sides in the Vietnam-China Joint Statement in 2025. In addition, the meetings, discussions, and working sessions between Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh and Chinese leaders were open, cordial, and effective. Much of the information and results obtained from the working trip were very practical and useful, further deepening the cooperative relationship between the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice and China, especially promoting cooperation between local judicial agencies of the two sides in a substantive and in-depth manner.
Regarding internal political security, the members of the delegation strictly and fully complied with the Party's regulations and laws on overseas business trips, internal political security, and protection of state secrets, in accordance with Regulation No. 58-QD/TW dated February 8, 2022, of the Politburo on some issues concerning the protection of the Party's internal political security.
2. Recommendations
          Based on the results of the working trip as reported above, the Ministry of Justice recommends that the Prime Minister assign the Ministry of Justice to implement the following specific issues:
(i) Continue to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Justice of China to effectively implement the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of China signed on October 31, 2022; the Cooperation Program for 2024-2025 signed on December 8, 2023; promptly agree on and sign the Cooperation Program between the two Ministries of Justice for 2026-2027 to continue implementing the 2022 Memorandum; negotiate and sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Justice of China in the field of commercial mediation and arbitration to resolve commercial disputes in border areas ( as proposed by the Ministry of Justice of China), ensuring compliance with the regulations of the Party and the State;
(ii) Promulgate the Plan for implementing the results of the First Conference of Justice Departments of the provinces sharing a border with Vietnam and China, ensuring implementation in accordance with the contents agreed upon by the Ministries of Justice of the two countries;
(iii) Assign the Ministry of Justice to exchange experiences with China on handling administrative violations, especially experiences in organizational structure, state management, defining the boundary between administrative violations and crimes, and regulations on administrative penalties, for selective reference in the process of proposing and developing policies and laws on related topics.
          The above is the result of the bilateral visit to China and participation in the first Conference of Justice Departments of provinces sharing a border with Vietnam and China by the Minister of Justice from June 26, 2025 to June 29, 2025. The Ministry of Justice respectfully reports this to the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee and the Prime Minister for consideration and guidance.