President Jiang Zemin told Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Hanoi Thursday that the joint efforts of the two countries will lead to the further expansion of the scale and scope of their trade and economic cooperation.
China is confident about future trade and economic ties with Viet Nam, Jiang was quoted as saying by a spokeswoman with the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
According to the spokeswoman, Khai replied by saying the two neighbours had much in common but also complemented each other.
They should continue to promote their cooperation in various fields, added the prime minister.
China is now one of Viet Nam's most important trading partners, with two-way trade volume reaching US$3 billion last year.
Jiang told his Vietnamese host that China has always attached great importance to developing reciprocal cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in all fields and is confident that China-ASEAN co-operation will yield new achievements.
Jiang, who is also visiting Viet Nam in his capacity as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,held separate talks Thursday with Do Muoi and Le Kha Phieu, both former general secretaries of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee.
When meeting Do Muoi, Jiang spoke highly of the progress in Sino-Vietnamese relations since their normalization in 1991. Jiang highlighted the closer political ties, expanded trade and economic co-operation and the settlement of border issues.
Do Muoi said that the frequent high-level exchanges have greatly enhanced mutual trust and expanded the consensus between Viet Nam and China. This has contributed to the long-term stable development of party-to-party as well as nation-to-nation ties, he said.
Jiang told Le Kha Phieu that China is glad to note that bilateral ties have developed at a good momentum.
Phieu said that the two parties and two countries should maintain their trust, which is the basis for good-neighbourly relations.
Jiang later left Hanoi and headed for the central cities of Hue and Da Nang to continue his visit.
(China Daily March 1, 2002)
