Vietnamese and Chinese Prime Ministers experience printing Dong Ho paintings

On the occasion of the official visit to Vietnam of Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang, on the evening of October 13, at the Government headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang enjoyed Dong Ho paintings and visited the exhibition of special Vietnamese agricultural products exported to China.

To the gentle, smooth melody of the song “Inviting water, inviting betel” from Bac Ninh folk song Quan Ho, the two Prime Ministers enjoyed the steps of making traditional Vietnamese Dong Ho paintings performed by Dong Ho artisans.

After witnessing and learning more about the printing techniques; the meaning and artistic value of Dong Ho paintings, the two Prime Ministers directly experienced printing paintings in the way Dong Ho artisans performed, with the painting "Riding a buffalo and playing the flute," one of the typical, traditional scenes, depicting the peaceful scenery of the Vietnamese countryside.

Dong Ho paintings, or full name Dong Ho folk woodcut paintings, are a line of Vietnamese folk paintings originating from Dong Ho village in Song Ho ward, Thuan Thanh town, Bac Ninh province.

Previously, paintings were sold mainly for the Lunar New Year. Rural people bought paintings to stick on their walls, and at the end of the year, they removed them and used new paintings.

With high historical, cultural and scientific value, Dong Ho folk painting has been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage; research is being conducted and scientific dossiers are being prepared to submit to UNESCO for recognition as an intangible cultural heritage.

After enjoying Dong Ho paintings, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister Ly Cuong visited the exhibition of some special agricultural products of Vietnam exported to China such as bird's nest, durian, fresh coconut, banana, coffee, milk... These are typical products in 14 agricultural products officially exported to the Chinese market.

China has always been identified as the largest and most important export market for agricultural, forestry and fishery products of Vietnam. In the first 9 months of 2024, the export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to China reached 9.26 billion USD, of which the export turnover of vegetables and fruits reached 3.4 billion USD, an increase of 36% over the same period in 2023.

With this result, China continues to be the export market for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables in the past 9 months. However, there is still much room for Vietnam's agricultural product exports to China.

At the morning talks of the same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed that China continue to open its market to high-quality agricultural products from Vietnam such as citrus fruits, grapefruit, avocado, custard-apple, rose apple, oriental medicinal herbs of plant origin, buffalo meat, beef, pork, products from livestock and poultry, and farmed lobsters from Vietnam.

Prime Minister Li Qiang said China will continue to further open its market to Vietnamese goods, especially high-quality Vietnamese agricultural, aquatic and fruit products.