Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong will pay a five-day official visit to China on July 18 as his second trip to the neighboring country since 2000, with an indication of Vietnam's determination and desire to bring friendly and cooperative ties with China to a new height, the official Vietnam News Agency stated in a commentary on Wednesday.

Since the normalization of their relations in 1991, the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and China have developed rapidly and deeply in a wide range of areas, bringing about many practical benefits for both sides, the commentary said. Cooperative ties between the two countries' ministries and sectors have been strengthened with 44 agreements and state-level commitments signed so far, more than half of which relate to economic and trade cooperation.

The trade turnover between the two countries increased to over 6.74 billion US dollars in 2004 from 30 million dollars in 1991. In the first quarter of this year, it was more than 3.2 billion dollars.

China currently has 267 investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 545 million dollars, ranking 15th among 64 nations and regions investing in the country.

China's official development assistance to Vietnam includes non- refundable grants and preferential credit loans. By last September, China provided Vietnam with a non-refundable grant of 24.4 million dollars and 18.4 million dollars for technical assistance and healthcare equipment.

Vietnam and China, which have held seven rounds of talks concerning the former's negotiations on its accession to the World Trade Organization, are expected to announce the conclusion of their bilateral negotiations on the issue during Luong's upcoming visit, said the commentary.

Source: Xinhua