Promoting Vietnam-China friendly cooperation ties to new height
HANOI - On the occasion of the state visit to China from July 18-22 by Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong, local media ran editorials Monday, highly appreciating the strong development of the friendly and all-round cooperation relations between the two countriesin recent years.
In an editorial titled "Developing Vietnam-China friendly and comprehensive cooperation ties to a new height", the People newspaper said Luong's visit reaffirms the wish and the determination of the two peoples in reinforcing and developing the relations for their benefits.
"Since the relations' normalization in 1991, the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries have rapidly developed both extensively and intensively with new quality... in recent years, the Vietnam-China trade and economic relations have gained remarkable progress with the two-way trade standing at 7.2 billionUS dollars in 2004, up 190 times against 1991," the editorial said.
Vietnam and China are willing to share experiences in national construction and development, and effectively cooperate with each other in multilateral forums.
"Vietnam supports China's efforts in participating in the ASEAN(The Association of Southeast Nations) + 1, ASEAN + 3, ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum), APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and ASEM(Asia-Europe Meeting), and its important role in the United Nations and other international organizations ... Fine achievements of the Vietnam-China friendly and comprehensive cooperation ties help enhance the status of the two nations in theinternational arena," it noted.
Besides the bilateral relations, the editorial also spoke highly of the strong and rapid development of China. "We highly appreciate great achievements gained by Chinese people in over twodecades of reform and openness, which have turned China into one of most dynamic economies with high growths in gross domestic product, fields and sectors."
In its editorial "The Vietnam-China relations develop comprehensively in a sustainable way," the People's Army newspapersaid the ties between the two close neighbor countries is "an important factor, helping ensure peaceful and stable internationalenvironments for the people of each country to build their strong and wealthy nation."
Since leaders of the two countries put forth in 1999 the guiding principle of "good-neighborly friendship, all-round cooperation, long-term stability, and future orientation,"the Vietnam-China relations have developed to a new height with comprehensiveness and firmness, the editorial stated.
Nowadays, the bilateral ties have conditions for intensive and extensive development, bringing about great and practical benefitsto the two sides, the editorial said, noting that Luong's visit is"a significant event which meets aspiration and interest of the two peoples."
"Despite being a developing country, China has provided Vietnamwith official development assistance of 312 million US dollars, including non-refundable aid of 50 million dollars, in the past more than 10 years," the editorial said, noting that China has also helped Vietnam construct many economic, cultural, health and educational works in many localities.
"Another outstanding feature is that localities along the Vietnam-China borders have had many modes of direct cooperation, contributing to the friendly and peaceful border construction, and the economic and cultural development in border areas," it said.
Xinhuanet - July 18, 2005.
Vietnam desires closer all-round relations with China
Vietnam would like to beef up the comprehensive relations with China in a sustainable way, especially cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Friday.
"A great aspiration of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the state and the people is to step up the Vietnam-China ties in a comprehensive, rapid and sustainable way, bringing them to a new height and tapping big potentials of the two countries in various fields," the president stated.
Vietnam desires faster development in the bilateral cooperative relations in the fields of economy and trade, he said, noting "It is the foundation for the broadened and deepened development of other ties between the two countries."
The prospect of cooperation in other important fields such as politics, diplomacy, defense, security, culture, science and technology, and tourism is also very rosy, Luong noted.
During his upcoming visit to China, he will exchange views and put forth major orientational suggestions so as to create a new impetus to all-faceted ties, further tapping the two countries' great potential for the benefit of the two peoples in the context of globalization and international economic integration, Luong said.
Luong will pay a state visit to China from July 18-22 at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao. "I believe that my visit will make positive contribution to the development of friendly and comprehensive cooperative ties between Vietnam and China," he said.
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," he said.
"I strongly believe that in the future, the Vietnam-China friendly and comprehensive cooperative relations will be ceaselessly reinforced, broadened and deepened, in which economic and trade cooperation will be a major focus," Luong said. The sound and stable development of the bilateral ties is beneficial to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region as well as the whole world, he added.
He said the Vietnam-China 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.
"Frequent high-level visits and contacts between the two countries on a yearly basis help increase trust and orient the comprehensive and sustainable relations between the two states and two peoples. The exchange and cooperative ties between various sectors, localities and communities of the two countries also enhance mutual understanding and serve the national development," Luong stated.
He said the economic and trade relations also gained encouraging results with China having become Vietnam's biggest trading partner, and statistics show the two-way trade between the two countries reached 7.2 billion US dollars in 2004.
"In early 2004, leaders of Vietnam and China set the target of posting two-way trade at 5 billion dollars in 2005 and 10 billion dollars in 2010. It's clear that the figure in 2010 will exceed the target," Luong said.
Referring to investment, he said that by May 2005, China had 328 investment projects worth 675.6 million dollars in Vietnam, ranking the 15th biggest foreign investor in the country. The two sides are implementing a series of large cooperative projects using preferential loans offered by the Chinese government.
"Sectors, localities and enterprises of the two countries are promoting cooperation on investment, especially in the fields of industry and transport. Vietnam has eager demand for Chinese technologies and equipment," the Vietnamese president said.
Xinhuanet - July 17, 2005.
Hanoi hopes to end WTO talks with China next week
HANOI - Vietnam is expected to conclude negotiations with China over its entry into the World Trade Organization during a visit by President Tran Duc Luong to Beijing next week, state media reported on Saturday.
Vietnam, aiming to become a member of the world trade body by the end of this year, has to strike agreements through multilateral and bilateral talks with WTO members such as China, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
"Experts from both sides are finishing the last work, trying to sign a declaration on the conclusion of the bilateral talks during the visit to China by President Tran Duc Luong," Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Phu Binh told the Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Vietnam has ended talks with 10 WTO members including the EU, South Korea and Japan.
Luong is scheduled to leave for Beijing on Monday for a five-day visit, which was aimed at "ensuring a stable and continuous development for the bilateral ties," he told the Communist Party-run Nhan Dan newspaper in an interview.
Two-way trade with China hit $7.2 billion in 2004, raising hopes that the two countries would soon exceed the target of $10 billion set for 2010, Luong said.
Vietnam's trade value with the United States stood at $6.4 billion last year.
Despite ideological and cultural similarities, China and Vietnam have historically had testy relations. Fishing rights have long been caught up in broader territorial disputes.
Hanoi and Beijing also have over-lapping claims to a large part of the South China Sea, as well as to clusters of oil-rich islands and reefs.
Reuters - July 15, 2005.
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