Beijing (VNA) - Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China (NPC) Zhang Dejiang has stated that Vietnam and China should have lay out a strategic, comprehensive and long-term vision to materialise common consensus reached by their leaders. During his talks with National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung in Beijing on December 24 right after the welcome ceremony, Zhang stressed the need to control conflicts and set orientations to developing bilateral ties. He called for launching prompt negotiations towards connecting the initiatives “One Belt, One Road” and “Two Corridors, One Belt”, and conducting a feasibility study on Lao Cai – Hanoi – Hai Phong hi-speed railway and Van Don – Mong Cai expressway. China will encourage prestigious firms to invest in Vietnam and facilitate the construction of cross-border economic zones between the two countries. China is willing to devise solutions to easing trade imbalance with Vietnam, he said, adding that both countries should build a solid social foundation to foster their friendship. The Vietnamese NA Chairman, for his part, informed the host that the Vietnamese Party, State and people will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NA election on January 6, 2016, and commented that ties between the Vietnamese NA and the NPC have leaped over the past time, especially between the Vietnam – China and China – Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Groups. He recalled that Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, in his address to the Vietnamese NA during his visit, stressed the NPC’s role in relationship between the two countries and suggested increased exchanges between the two legislatures. The two legislatures should intensify liaison in lawmaking as well as improve the scale and efficiency of the Vietnam – China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, he said. Hung pushed forward efforts to facilitate visits by ministries and localities, thereby fostering friendship between the two peoples. He hoped that Zhang together with Chinese leaders would settle existing differences over territorial sovereignty via discussions to seek solutions that meet legitimate interests of the two peoples. On the occasion, the Vietnamese leader invited Zhang to visit Vietnam in his convenient time. Zhang accepted the invitation with pleasure. Following the talks, they signed a cooperation agreement, the first of its kind, between the two legislative bodies, opening up a new period of partnership between the two peoples. NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung’s visit to China, from December 23-27, aims to actualise high-level agreements reached by the two sides over the past time while promoting the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries in a stable, healthy and sustainable manner, for the interest of each side, and for peace and stability in the region and the world at large.-VNA