Vietnam to act as bridge for promoting China-ASEAN ties: Vietnamese president

Vietnam will actively develop friendly and cooperative relations with China, and act as a bridge for fostering China-ASEAN relations, said Vietnamese State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

Triet made the remarks when meeting with a Chinese delegation of radio and television reporters on April 25, and answering their questions about such issues as the China-Vietnam relations and the China-ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) ties.

Regarding the Vietnam-China ties, Triet said that he was very glad to see that over the past few years, their parties and states have ceaselessly visited each other, and their friendly relations have been reinforced and developed.

Triet stated that the development of the bilateral relations, especially the development of political ties is in accordance with the aspiration of leaders of the two parties and states as well as the two peoples.

Vietnam welcomes initiatives on strengthening cooperation between Vietnam and China; between China and ASEAN, and that his country will endeavor to probe into and realize the initiatives.

Triet said he highly appreciated the Chinese initiative on holding the China-ASEAN trade fair in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region every autumn.

Triet briefed the delegation's members about Vietnam's achievements after 20 years of conducting the "doi moi" ( renovation) policy, and pointed out difficulties faced by his country, such as low economic development level, low income per capita, and low competitiveness of products, incomplete infrastructure, and imperfect integration-related laws.

He said Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) early this year, creating a good foundation for strengthening regional cooperation. Vietnam has learned a lot from China's WTO-related experiences, he said, noting that many Chinese investors have been successful in Vietnam.

Triet said he appreciated exchange and cooperation between Vietnam and China on culture, sports and human resources. Many Vietnamese people have a good command of Chinese ancient literature, he said, adding that Chinese films and books are favored in Vietnam.

On April 24, the Chinese delegation arrived in Vietnam, the first leg of their tour to 10 ASEAN members: Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.

Source: Xinhua