Regarding trade ties as an important base to develop its all-round relations with China, Vietnam is taking concrete measures to promote trade with the neighboring country as well as other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"One of our measures is the active participation in the first China-ASEAN Trade Fair to be held in the city of Nanning, China early this month. Our government is very interested in the fair," Doan Duy Khuong, vice executive president of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), told Xinhua in an interview on Monday, before leading the country's business delegation to the city on Tuesday.

"Some 200 Vietnamese enterprises mainly operating in the fields of industry, agriculture, construction, infrastructure and production of consumer goods are to attend the fair. They will participate in all of its activities, including a China-ASEAN conference and a Vietnam-China business forum," said the official of Vietnam's biggest trade and investment promotion organization.

Before urging local companies to attend the fair, the VCCI, in September 2004, established the Vietnam-China Business Forum, and an e-trading floor designated for companies of the two countries to seek more outlets, partners and investment opportunities.

"The forum involves in all trade promotion activities, from organization of seminars and business delegations to establishment of information portals on the Internet," Khuong noted.

In a broader move, the VCCI has taken concrete steps toward more prosperous border economy and further development of infrastructure linking Vietnam and China so that the trade ties between the two countries "can thrive in a more sustainable way," he said, adding that the chamber and other local agencies have held a number of seminars regarding the construction of two economic corridors involving southwestern China's Yunnan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and five Vietnamese localities of Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Lao Cai and Lang Son.

The economic corridors are not only a base to beef up Vietnam-China trade relations but also facilitate trade ties between China and other ASEAN members, he said, noting that the Vietnam-China multifaceted ties, especially economic and trade ones, play an important role in Asian economic integration, helping connect South Asia with Southeast Asia in particular and the whole continent in general.

"We think that Vietnam and China can realize the target of achieving two-way trade of 5 billion US dollars this year, one year ahead schedule. The goal of 10 billion dollars worth of bilateral turnovers set for 2010 by the two countries' leaders is also within reach," Khuong said.

In recent years, the trade and economic relations between China and Vietnam have seen remarkable development. Their bilateral trade, which reached 4.6 billion dollars last year, is expected to surpass 5 billion dollars this year. By late August 2004, investors from China's mainland and Hong Kong had had 625 projects with total registered capital of 3.65 billion dollars in Vietnam.