Activities under the exchange programme are co-chaired by Politburo member, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich on the Vietnamese side. The co-chair on the Chinese side is Politburo member and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Senior Lieutenant General Fan Chang Long. The event is aimed at promoting friendship and solidarity between local administrations, people and border guard forces of the two countries, thus enhancing political trust, enabling the sustainable and stable development of relations between the two countries and two armies.Through the exchange, the two sides want to strengthen trust of the two peoples about a peaceful Vietnam-China border of friendship and development while countering distorted information about Vietnam-China ties.The Chinese delegation to the exchange programme was welcomed to Lai Chau at a ceremony at Ma Lu Thang border gate in Lai Chau’s Phong Tho district on September 23. The same day, a seminar on the border defence friendship between Vietnam and China was held in Lai Chau with the participation of the two co-chairmen Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich and Sen. Lt. Gen. Fan Chang Long. 
Participants shared their experience in external defence activities, policies to promote cross-border trade, and the establishment of twinning relations between border localities. They proposed measures to improve the quality and efficiency of border defence cooperation in the time ahead. Deputy Commander of Military Region 2 Major General Hoang Ngoc Dung said the region has coordinated with Chinese border defence forces to build the shared border line of peace, friendship and common development.The armed forces of two sides have regularly exchanged information and worked together to ensure social order, safety and security in border areas, especially in preventing crimes and handling cases relating to cross-border farming and migration, he noted.Major General Zhang Jian from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army held that it is necessary to devise more practical measures in the bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as joint exercises on fighting terrorism and violence and cross-border crimes, while expanding exchanges at the grassroots level.