Vietnamese Party and State leaders receive and hold talks with Chinese Party Secretary and President Hu Jintao

In the afternoon of November 16, after a formal reception at the Presidential Palace, General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh and President Nguyễn Minh Triết held talks with General Secretary and President Hu Jintao. In the friendly, cordial and open atmosphere, the two sides involved themselves in in-depth discussions and gained broad common understanding on how to strengthen and expand the relations between the two parties and two countries as well as on regional and world issues of mutual concern.

Photo: VNGOVNet

The Vietnamese leaders warmly welcomed the Chinese counterpart's friendly and official visit to Vietnam, stressing that the visit not only signifies the great importance that the Chinese Party and State have attached to and their extraordinary care of how to cement and deepen the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and China, but also their strong support to the APEC summit that Vietnam has hosted for the first time. They asserted that the Communist Party, State and people of Vietnam always give the greatest appreciation and pay a tremendous amount of attention to broadened comprehensive and sustained cooperation with China as a consistency and a top priority in the country's foreign policy.

The Chinese guest expressed his heartfelt thanks to the solemn and warm reception that the Vietnamese leaders and people had given to his delegation, congratulating the Vietnamese people on the sizable achievements that they have won over the past 20 years of national renovation, re-affirming his support for the guidelines and policies set out by the 10th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, expressing his hope that under the leadership of the CPV, the Vietnamese people will succeed in building a modern and powerful socialist republic Vietnam with rich people living in an equal, democratic and civilized society.

The two sides were pleased to note that the Vietnamese-Chinese neighborly relation and comprehensive cooperation have kept growing strongly under the 16-word motto and the 4-good principle, agreeing to maintain the traditional practice of frequently exchanging high-level visits and meetings, promote the communication between bodies of different areas and at all levels, particularly diplomatic services, national defense, public security, continue to hold seminars on Party building and national construction, and pay more attention to raising the awareness of the two nations' solidarity and traditional friendship among the public, especially young people. They also consented to further communications and better coordination of actions for peace, cooperation and development at regional and international fora. The Chinese side showed its support for Vietnam to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-09 tenure of office.

Photo: VNGOVNet

The two sides set a high value on the establishment the Steering Committee for Vietnam-China Cooperation and the outcome of its first plenary session, considering it a new step forward in bilateral relations, wishing it to help bring about a radical and across-the-board change for the better in the relations between the two Parties and two countries in the direction of closer friendship, broader cooperation for mutual benefit and common development, and especially greater bilateral trade and economic ties and sped-up resolution of boundary-related issues.

The two sides took their delight in the progress made in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, agreeing the early signing of a framework agreement on broadening and deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation, aimed to cement the bond between the two economies in a feasible, effective, mutually beneficial manner for common development. They set the new target of bringing the bilateral trade value up to US$ 15 billion by 2010 while step by step working to deliver a balanced and sustained growth in two-way trade. The Chinese side congratulated Vietnam’s accession to the WTO, expecting it to make greater contribution to the organization, and committing itself to extending continued support for Vietnam as well as sharing with it experience in realizing WTO commitments.

The two sides discussed a number of major economic cooperation projects in agriculture, infrastructure, electricity, fertilizer and chemical areas. Together, they hailed the  "Two economic corridors, one economic belt” memorandum. The Vietnamese side expected China to assist in building railways and expressways in the area covered by "two economic corridors, one economic belt", linking them with the corresponding ends in China's border provinces so that the project can soon be placed at the public's disposal, contributing to boosting cooperation between Vietnam and China in particular, among countries in the greater Mekong Sub-region and between China and ASEAN in general.

They remarked that as a result of the efforts made by both sides, there had been significant headway in solving border-related issues, stressing that properly handling these issues would lead to enhanced friendship and trustfulness between the two peoples. In that spirit, the two sides agreed to take drastic actions to meet the targets of demarcation and border mark placement in order to sign a new code of border control by 2008, speed up negotiations on marine demarcation in the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin (Vịnh Bắc Bộ), increase communication on the issue of cooperation for common development, and as soon as possible begin discussions on what extent to which a joint study is carried out in this water area, what it is like and how to do it. The two sides consented to sustained talks on marine issues for a permanent, fundamental solution acceptable to both while making efforts to maintain peace and stability in the Eastern Sea.

Mr. Hu Jintao took this occasion to invite Mr. Nông Đức Mạnh and Mr. Nguyễn Minh Triết to China for a visit. The Vietnamese leaders thanked the Chinese guest and took his invitation.

After the talks, the two sides concluded a number of agreements on economic cooperation and attended a launching ceremony for a website on Vietnam-China economic and trade cooperation. At the end of General Secretary and President Hu's visit, the two sides will issue a communiqué.

The same day evening , General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh, President Nguyễn Minh Triết and their wives held a grand dinner party in honor of General Secretary and President Hu Jintao, his wife and the Chinese delegation at the International Convention Center.

By Quang Vinh