Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) bids farewell to China's President Xi Jinping after their meeting at the Government Office in Hanoi on Dec. 13, 2023. Vietnam aims to start building two high-speed railway lines linking its capital Hanoi with China before 2030, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said, another sign of a recent warming of ties between the two Communist-ruled neighbors. China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and a vital source of imports for its manufacturing sector. The two countries are already connected via a system of highways and two railway lines that are old and need upgrading on the Vietnam side. One of the planned high-speed lines would run from Vietnam's port cities of Haiphong and Quang Ninh through Hanoi to Lao Cai province, which borders China's Yunan province, the ministry said in a statement released late on Tuesday.

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Persons: Pham Minh Chinh, Xi Jinping, Lao Cai Organizations: Vietnam's, Government, Ministry of Planning, Investment Locations: Hanoi, Vietnam, China, Vietnam's, Haiphong, Quang Ninh, Lao, China's Yunan, Lang Son, China's Guangxi