Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung received Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli in Hanoi on July 16. The PM said Vietnam treasures the maintenance and stable and sustainable development of friendship and cooperation with the Party, Government and people of China, stressing that this is the consistent policy and top priority of Vietnam’s external policy. He suggested the two countries enhance friendship and cooperation and resolve dissimilarities satisfactorily to create an environment of peace and stability for cooperation and development. He described this as a common basic and long-term interest of the two Parties, States and people of Vietnam and China.

For his part, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang affirmed that China attaches importance to boosting cooperation with Vietnam and will spare no effort to deepen the two countries’ comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

He said his visit is designed to join hands with the Vietnamese side to implement agreements reached by the two countries’ senior leaders.

With the common perception, PM Dung and Vice Premier Zhang agreed that the two sides will increase political trust by maintaining contacts and exchanges of high-ranking delegations. Through the meetings, the two sides should exchange views on important issues in the two countries’ ties and ease obstacles born during cooperation, ensuring the two countries’ relations develop on the right track, they said.

Zhang said that Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping highly appreciated the invitation to visit Vietnam by Vietnamese leaders and asked the two sides to work closely to arrange the trip.

Zhang renewed the invitation by Chinese leaders to PM Dung to visit China as soon as possible.

During the meeting, host and guest concurred with enhanced cooperation in economics, trade, investment and tourism and hoped bilateral trade would reach 100 billion USD in the near future.

They also agreed to promote the role of the two infrastructure and monetary working groups while discussing China’s wish to invest in major infrastructure construction projects in Vietnam and take part in initiatives on strategic development connectivity between the two countries and in production capacity enhancement.

They also agreed to encourage exchanges and cooperation between localities, especially border areas, promote the building of cross-border economic zones, increase people-to-people exchanges, particularly among the youth, and expand personnel training cooperation. 
Regarding the East Sea issue, Prime Minister Dung urged both countries to maintain effective control of differences at sea; avoid activities that complicate the circumstances further; strictly implement the basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues between two nations and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); foster collaboration with ASEAN countries to complete a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea; address sea disputes through peaceful measures in line with international laws, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; and work together to maintain regional and international peace and stability. 

The Prime Minister recommended the two sides step up negotiation mechanism on marine issues and fully realise cooperation agreements, including negotiations on delimitation accompanied with cooperation in the waters off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin.

Concurring with the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s vieꦅwpoints, Vice Premier Zang Gaoli stressed that the two sides need to implement the signed agreemen💃ts, avoid actions that complicate the situation, effective control of all dissimilarities and enhance collaboration in less sensitive fields at sea.-VNA