Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) and his visiting Vietnamese counterpart Tran Duc Luong review a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, July 18, 2005.

China and Vietnam agreed Monday in Beijing to avail the chance of the 55th anniversary of the formation of diplomatic ties to push forward the good-neighborly relations.

During the talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Duc Luong, Hu said Sino-Vietnamese relations have further developed in the new century with the guideline of long-term stability, facing the future, good-neighborliness, and comprehensive cooperation.

The issues left over by history including demarcation of land border and Beibu Bay have been settled, Hu said, adding that the cooperation on economic and trade, education, science have also scored fruitful results.

"We thanks Vietnam for your adherence to one-China policy, and its support to China's reunification cause," Hu said.

Hu put forward four-point proposal to further Sino-Vietnamese ties. The proposals include the promotion of closer high-level contacts to expand traditional friendship; the further expansion of economic and trade cooperation; the proper handling of the border issue and the acceleration of setting up boundary markers along the land border; and the enhancement of exchanges in non-governmental arena.

Hu called upon the two countries to strengthen cooperation in an effort to safeguard the fishery production order in Beibu Bay and the stability in the border area. He also hoped the cooperative agreement between China, Vietnam and the Philippines on the joint exploration of the South China Sea could be realized and scored tangible results at an early date.

Luong said the frequent high-level exchanges between Vietnam and China have promoted the political trust and friendly cooperation, and contributed to the regional and global peace and stability.

Luong reaffirmed that Vietnam will continue to adhere to one-China policy and support China's reunification cause.

He stressed Vietnam and China are neighbors, and facing the common task of economic development. China is Vietnam's largest trading partner, and enhancing cooperation is in conformity with the fundamental interest of the two sides.

Vietnam would like to develop the strategic partnership with China and will expand cooperation on economic and trade, energy resources, communication and other fields so as to achieve the goal of doubling the bilateral trade volume in 2010, he said.

"Vietnam will cooperate with China to finalize remaining work on land border demarcation at an early date, to safeguard fishery production order of Beibu Bay, and to promote exploration in the South China Sea," said Luong.

After talks, the two presidents witnessed the signing ceremony of three documents including one on bilateral market access within the World Trade Organization.

Source: Xinhua