Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong Monday morning left Hanoi for a state visit to China from July 18-22 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao.

At the international airport of Noi Bai, Luong said: "I'm very happy to lead a Vietnamese high-ranking delegation to China. Thanks to the two sides' full preparation, I believe that the visit will be a success."

The Vietnamese president is accompanied by senior officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien and Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen, and representatives from over 70 local enterprises.

The visit "reaffirms the determination and aspiration of leaders and peoples of Vietnam and China to bring their all-round cooperative and friendly ties to a new height," Luong told Xinhua recently, noting that he will exchange views and put forth major suggestions so as to create a new impetus to all- faceted ties.

Since the normalization of their diplomatic relations in 1991, China and Vietnam have regularly exchanged delegation visits at all levels. The bilateral relations have seen rapid development in a wide range of areas, bringing about many practical benefits for both sides with 44 agreements and state-level commitments signed so far.

The economic and trade relations have gained encouraging results with China having become Vietnam's biggest trading partner. Vietnam's statistics show the two-way trade between the two countries reached 7.2 billion US dollars in 2004.

Between 1992 and 2004, China offered Vietnam 312 million dollars worth of official development assistance, including 50 million dollars in non-refundable aid.

Source: Xinhua