China's Premier To Visit Vietnam
HANOI - Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji will make a four-day official visit to
Vietnam next week as part of a 12-day tour of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a
Vietnamese Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.
Zhu, China's No. 2 leader and chief economic guru, is expected to discuss improving bilateral ties as
well as boosting cooperation between ASEAN's 10 members and the international community.
``Restoring economic growth and maintaining economic security are still important issues in stabilizing
the Asian-Pacific region,'' Zhu told the Vietnam News Agency's Beijing correspondent.
Zhu's visit is the latest high-level exchange between the two nations, which have shared a history of
animosity and still have conflicting claims to islands in the South China Sea.
China and Vietnam have been steadily repairing formal relations since diplomatic ties were renewed in
1994 following a bitter dispute after China attacked Vietnam in 1979 for invading Cambodia.
Vietnam, which began market reforms in the mid-1980s, has recently looked toward Beijing's example
in reforming its stodgy state sector economy.
Though there were no specific details of Zhu's agenda, it is also likely that Vietnam's delayed trade deal
with the United States will be discussed. Some have speculated that Hanoi held off finalizing the pact,
initialed in July, in deference to Beijing's continuing trade talks with the United States.
The historic agreement between Washington and Beijing, signed last week, was expected to push
Vietnam into finalizing its talks. President Tran Duc Luong hinted as much during last week's opening of
the semiannual National Assembly.
Associated Press - November 25, 1999.
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