(VOVworld) – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang began a three-day visit to Vietnam on October 13th at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. During their talks, the two leaders exchanged views on bilateral relations over the past years and discussed a number of measures to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and China in the new context.
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| Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung hosted a welcoming ceremony for visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Hanoi on October 13th (Photo:VGP) |
They underlined the need to increase political trust and conduct regular exchanges at all levels. They said both countries should boost mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas, especially economics and trade, to raise two-way trade to 60 billion USD in 2015 and gradually balance their trade. The two agreed to strengthen people-to-people exchanges to consolidate bilateral friendship, to make a greater effort to build a common border of peace, stability, and prosperity, and increase coordination at regional and international forums, contributing to global peace, stability, and prosperity.
Regarding issues related to sea and islands, the two agreed to put forward the common perception of the two Parties’ top leaders, strictly adhering to the signed agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues between Vietnam and China. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said: “Both sides agreed to make efforts to maintain peace and stability at sea, control differences and strictly adhere to the signed agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues between Vietnam and China, consistently maintain consultations and friendly negotiations to seek basic and long-term solutions acceptable to both sides. In this spirit, both sides agreed to make an effort to achieve measurable progress in the delineation and development of the outer part of the Tonkin Gulf.”
Dung and Li agreed to establish a group consulting cooperation for mutual development at sea within the framework of the government-level negotiating delegations on Vietnam-China border and territory. The two agreed to expand guidelines for the current negotiation mechanism and the number of meetings of a joint working group for the Tonkin Gulf area and an expert-level working group on cooperation in less sensitive maritime issues. Both sides agreed to resolve sea-related disputes and avoid actions that would further complicate the situation through the use of hotlines and other existing mechanisms. They pledged to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and work closely together to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea in line with the DOC and working towards the Code of Conduct (COC).
After the talks, Premier Li and Prime Minister Dung witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation agreements between the two countries, including those on the opening of trade promotion agencies in each other’s territories, and the building of a cross-border economic cooperation zone.