Beijing (VNA) – PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with General Secretary of the Communist Party ofChina and President of China Xi Jinping in Beijing on April 25.

Phuc, who is in Beijing toattend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, conveyed regardsfrom General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President ofVietnam Nguyen Phu Trong to the Chinese leader.

The Vietnamese PM congratulatedChina on the achievements that the country has made in national construction,and wished the second Belt and Road Forum a success.

PM Phuc appreciated thedevelopment of ties between the two countries and parties in the recent timeand took the occasion to affirm that Vietnam consistently follows the externalpolicy of independence, peace, cooperation and development, while attachingimportance to promoting the stable, healthy and sustainable development of the Vietnam-Chinacomprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

Vietnam welcomes and supportsthe Belt and Road initiative based on ensuring the principles of peaceful,equal and win-win cooperation, mutual respect and adherence to internationallaw towards the goal of contributing to common development and prosperity ofall countries, the PM said.

He proposed that Vietnam andChina increase the exchange of high-level visits, bolster exchanges and cooperationbetween their sectors and all-level administrations, make effective use ofexisting cooperative mechanisms from central to local levels, and focus theirguidance on the prompt settlement of difficulties to well implement high-levelagreements reached between the two parties and countries.

PM Phuc also called forpromoting result-oriented cooperation in the fields of diplomacy, nationaldefence and security; expanding people-to-people and youth exchanges;effectively orientating public opinion and the media; and organising activitiesto mark the 70th founding anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic relations.

He urged the two sides toimprove the effectiveness of economic cooperation and appreciated bilateraljoint efforts to open up their markets for better trade balance, whilewelcoming China to carry out big projects using advanced andenvironmentally-friendly technology in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese PM suggested thatthe two countries enhance collaboration in managing and sustainably using waterresources of the Mekong River and other rivers that they share; extend thebilateral agreement on the sea fishing hotline; work together in monitoringnuclear safety; and continue to coordinate to well implement the threedocuments on the Vietnam-China land border.

Regarding the sea issues, PMPhuc said the two sides should continue to adhere to the common perception andagreements of high-ranking leaders of the two parties and countries and the Vietnam-Chinaagreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of issues at sea, whileconsistently addressing sea issues by peaceful measures in line withinternational law, towards making progress on the demarcation of waters off themouth of the Tonkin Gulf in 2020. He also held that the two sides should fullyand effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in theEast Sea (DOC), and push forward negotiations on the building of a binding Codeof Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in order to maintain peace and stability inthe waters.

Party General Secretary andPresident of China Xi Jinping welcomed PM Phuc and the Vietnamese delegation tothe second Belt and Road Forum, saying that their attendance demonstrates theimportance that the Vietnamese Party and State attach to the China-Vietnam tiesand contributes to the success of the forum.

Xi Jinping affirmed that the ChineseParty and State attach importance to the relationship with Vietnam and are ofthe same mind with Vietnam on maintaining high-level meetings, enhancingpolitical trust, promoting substantive cooperation across the fields, expandingpeople-to-people exchanges, strengthening the traditional friendship and wellcontrolling differences for the stable, healthy and sustainable development ofthe China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

China supports Vietnam inpromoting its role in multilateral mechanisms, particularly Vietnam’s chair ofthe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020, he said. –VNA