The Chinese government strongly condemns the anti-Chinese protests in Vietnam last week that killed two Chinese workers and injured 140 others. The government has asked Vietnamese authorities to properly deal with the deadly unrest that broke out and to take the necessary steps to ensure that similar violence doesn’t occur again.
"We hope the Vietnamese government can quickly take control of the situation, ensure Chinese citizens’ safety and properly aid the victims of this tragedy. Vietnam is an important trade partner of China. This deadly incident has widespread international ramifications. China does not want to see our trade relationship deteriorate. We hope the Vietnamese government will properly compensate all the victims affected by this horrific event and restore Chinese businesses’ confidence in Vietnam," said Zhang Ji, director of Foreign Trade Dept. from Ministry of Commerce.
Officials say China has been Vietnam’s largest trading partner for years. Bilateral trade between the two countries jumped 30 percent year on year in 2013, reaching about 65 billion US dollars. Zhang says that the trade levels are hard-won. He argues that the ongoing tension between China and Vietnam is hurting business for both countries and harms the healthy development of Sino-Vietnamese trade relations.
