Premier Wen Jiabao said during a Thursday meeting with his
Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Khai, that China and Vietnam
should carefully handle existing problems in bilateral
relations.
Phan is on a four-day official visit to China.
Highly valuing the traditional mutual friendship, Wen said the
Chinese government will work with Vietnam to push neighborly
relations to a new high. Deepening that traditional friendship
conforms to the fundamental interest of both peoples.
Phan agreed, saying that it is the established and long-term
policy of the Vietnamese Party and government to consolidate and
advance friendship with China.
Wen suggested the two countries should strengthen high-level
exchanges and bilateral political ties.
The two neighbors should encourage regional exchanges as well as
exchanges between the peoples through various channels, said Wen,
while sharing the experiences of reform and opening.
As to existing problems in bilateral relations, he said the two
nations should seek proper solutions in light of the overall
situation.
The economies of Vietnam and China are highly complementary,
Phan said, and the two countries have great potential to work
together. Vietnam plans to adopt pragmatic measures to make China
as large a trading partner as possible, he said.
China and Vietnam plan to double the current volume of bilateral
trade by 2010.
During his stay in China, which started Thursday, Phan will also
meet other Chinese leaders and pay a visit to central China's Hubei
Province and Liaoning
Province in northeast China.
(China Daily May 21, 2004)