Hu Jintao (C) shakes hands with Nong Duc Manh (R), general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong (L) during their meeting in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam Oct. 31, 2005.

Chinese and Vietnamese leaders agreed Monday in Hanoi to make joint efforts to promote good-neighborliness, friendship and all-round cooperation between their two countries.

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and president of China, and Nong Duc Manh, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), and President of Vietnam Tran Duc Luong, held talks on Monday afternoon.

The leaders of the two countries exchanged views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern in an in-depth way.

They agreed to follow the guideline of long-term stability, orientation toward future, good-neighborliness and friendship, and all-round cooperation, in striving to usher in a new situation of Sino-Vietnamese good-neighborliness, friendship and all-round cooperation through with mutual respect, understanding, support, trust and coordination.

Hu, who arrived here earlier Monday on a three-day official goodwill visit to Vietnam, reviewed the sound development of bilateral relations.

He spoke of the frequent exchanges of visits between leaders of the two countries, increasing exchanges of governing experiences, strengthening coordination and cooperation over international and regional issues, and enhancing fruitful cooperation in other fields such as economy, trade and culture.

Hu said the CPC and the Chinese government have always attached great importance to bilateral relations and will work with the Vietnamese side in taking hold of the general direction of the development of relations between the two parties and the two countries from a strategic altitude.

The Chinese side will also make efforts with the Vietnamese side to promote mutual trust, reciprocal cooperation and common development so as to be good neighbors, friends, comrades and partners with mutual trust and sincere cooperation forever, He said.

Stressing that China and Vietnam share many common strategic interests, Hu put forward a five-point proposal for the development of bilateral relations:

-- Strengthening high-level exchanges, keep frequent contacts and continue to maintain communication in various forms between leaders of the two sides;

-- Enhancing friendship and mutual trust, strengthening all-round cooperation, continuing exchanges of governing experiences and implementing cooperative mechanisms among different departments of the two countries;

-- Seizing all favorable opportunities to expand economic and trade cooperation in a bid to realize at an early date the 10-billion-US-dollar goal set for bilateral trade by 2010;

-- Pushing forward bilateral marine cooperation and ensuring the completion of land border demarcation;

-- Strengthening coordination and cooperation, promoting multilateral cooperation, and making efforts for safeguarding world peace and promoting common development.

Speaking highly of Vietnam's achievements, Hu said he believes that under the CPV's leadership, the Vietnamese people are bound to build Vietnam into a prosperous modern country.

Echoing Hu, Manh said the CPV, and the Vietnamese government and people attach great importance to the overall and steady growth of friendly relations and cooperation with China.

He said the Vietnamese party and government will make concerted efforts with the Chinese side to take the priority of developing bilateral relations as a consistent policy and push forward all-round development of bilateral friendship and cooperation.

Manh also reiterated Vietnam's one-China policy.

After the talks, the leaders of the two countries attended a signing ceremony for bilateral cooperation documents, including a bilateral economic-technical cooperation agreement.

Before the talks, Manh and Luong presided over a welcoming ceremony for Hu.

Manh and Luong also hosted a dinner in honor of Hu on Monday evening.

Source: Xinhua