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If you look for a country that has the closest ties to China in history, Vietnam will not escape the discussion.
This compatriot, which also originated from the Chinese civilization, has existed as China's territory and vassal state for a long time in history.
In modern times, the two countries are in the same socialist camp, and this fate has deepened the bonds between the two sides.
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong
This year, the cooperation between China and Vietnam has become much closer.
According to relevant news reports, on the occasion of the recent meeting between the heads of state of China and Vietnam, the two countries finalized another important railway cooperation project.
China has even promised to provide assistance to Vietnam "free of charge."
China-Vietnam train
In the face of this great gift from China, Vietnam also chose to exchange gifts and gave a very unique "gift" back to China.
So, why did China choose to provide free aid to Vietnam, and what exactly is this "return gift" from Vietnam?
Abandon China and choose Japan
If you open the world map and look closely, you will see that Vietnam is a very narrow and slender area.
This topography also makes Vietnam a very suitable country for railway projects.
When it comes to the construction of railways and high-speed railways, no country in the world dares to say that it can be ranked ahead of China.
China-Vietnam train
Coupled with the historical ties between China and Vietnam, it stands to reason that cooperation with China is the best choice for Vietnam.
What people didn't expect was that when planning to build the country's first high-speed rail project, Vietnam chose Japan instead of China.
China High-Speed Rail
In 2005, the Vietnamese government planned to build a north-south high-speed railway, which will be 1,560 kilometers long, starting from Hanoi and ending in Ho Chi Minh City, passing through 21 provinces and cities including Da Nang, with a total cost of 55.85 billion US dollars.
Originally, Vietnam was indeed the first to find China, and the two sides even negotiated the details of cooperation, including price, but the Japanese government, which was bent on opening up overseas markets, started a "price war" with China behind its back.
Japanese Shinkansen
In the end, due to the lower price offered by the Japanese side, coupled with the fact that Japan's "Shinkansen" had been in development for decades at that time, and China's high-speed rail was just starting, the Vietnamese government still chose to finalize the project agreement with Japan.
However, this decision also plunged the Vietnamese government into deep distress for more than a decade after that.
The high-speed rail project has stalled
According to the Vietnamese government's plan, this high-speed railway, which connects the north and south of the country, will be launched in 2014 and will take 20 years to be officially put into operation around 2035.
As a result, after the project was delivered to Japan, it did not take long for it to come to a standstill.
Geographical location of Vietnam
Since Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia, the terrain is very complex, full of mountains, forests and swamps, and special "narrow gauges" are also used on the tracks, which is very difficult to build.
After some conversion, the estimated cost in Japan is far exceeded.
High-speed rail construction project
Seeing that the project was about to lose money, the cunning Japanese government began to regret it, so it used delaying tactics and temporarily halted the project.
As a result, this is sad for the Vietnamese government, and now the international situation is changing so fast, and the construction of high-speed rail to drive domestic economic development is an urgent matter, but now it has to be delayed, how can this be done.
So, after more than a decade of no progress, Vietnam had no choice but to put its hope back on China.
The two countries reached a win-win cooperation
In recent years, trade between Vietnam and China has been increasing, and Vietnam is also actively participating in the "One Belt, One Road" international trade cooperation strategy led by China.
This year, the two sides have increased cooperation in investment projects, and the investment amount has more than doubled last year.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh
In the face of warming relations between the two countries, the Vietnamese government has once again asked China to help it renovate the cross-border railway between China and Vietnam and rebuild the high-speed rail project that spans the north and south.
In the face of Vietnam's request, the mainland was also well aware of their difficulties, so it generously chose to agree, and sent Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao to discuss with the Vietnamese government.
Wang Yi met with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son
In order to thank China for its help, the Vietnamese government also gave China a big gift in return for this project.
The construction route planned by the Vietnamese government is full of very precious rare earth minerals.
You must know that in today's fierce international competition, rare earth resources are an extremely expensive national strategic resource, and Vietnam is the world's second largest owner of rare earth resources.
China-Vietnam Friendship Bridge
Therefore, in this cooperation, in addition to the construction of the high-speed rail project, China and Vietnam will also jointly develop the largest rare earth mine in the region.
This is of extremely important strategic significance to China.
China-Vietnam cross-border trains
From a historical point of view, China and Vietnam share a common cultural heritage, and in terms of international relations, the two countries are brothers in the same socialist lineup.
In the future international development, the two countries should work hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, and constantly deepen the friendship between each other, so as to achieve a true win-win situation.