Vietnam-China ties broadened, deepened: editorial

The 3-day visit to Vietnam by Chinese President Hu Jintao beginning Monday takes place at a time when the friendly and comprehensive cooperation relations between the two countries are developing smoothly, local newspaper People said in an editorial.

"The visit confirms that Vietnam and China attach importance to beefing up their friendly and comprehensive cooperation ties under the principle of 'long-term stability, future orientation, good- neighborly friendship and all-round cooperation,' and the spirit of 'good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners, ' meeting aspiration and benefit of the two peoples, said the Monday editorial entitled "Further reinforcing and expanding Vietnam-China cooperative relations."

High-level visits maintained every year is of great importance to define orientations for the development of the Vietnam-China ties and the reinforcement of mutual trust, it said.

Since the normalization of bilateral relations in 1991, Vietnam and China have witnessed rapid development of the friendly and cooperative ties in all spheres. To date, 49 agreements and 25 other documents at state level have been signed by the two countries, laying the legal basis for maintaining ties.

"The opening of air, sea, road and rail routes has created favorable conditions for the visit as well as the trade and economic exchange between the two countries, among their localities... The bilateral cooperation on culture, tourism, education, training, science and technology is stressed, while that on diplomacy, defense and security is progressing actively," said the article.

Notable results of Vietnam-China comprehensive cooperation relations and their important contributions to such multilateral forums as ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), ARF ( ASEAN Regional Forum), APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) and the United Nations have ensured benefits of each country, and raised prestige and status of the two countries in the international arena.

"We wish the visit by General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chinese President Hu Jintao fine success, marking a new development level and fostering the forever Vietnam-China friendly and all-round cooperative relations under the 16-character principle and the 'four good' spirit for the benefits of the two peoples, and peace, stability, development and progress of the region and the world," it concluded.

On Monday, other local newspapers, including People's Army and New Hanoi ran editorials, also highly appreciated the Chinese president's visit and China's socioeconomic development, while highlighting the Vietnam-China ties in various aspects.

"China is now Vietnam's biggest trading partner. In 2004, the two-way trade reached 7.2 billion US dollars, increasing 190 times over 1991. The figure is expected to rise to 8.2 billion dollars this year, creating favorable conditions for the two sides to realize the target of 10 billion dollars in 2010," said an article entitled "Bringing Vietnam-China ties to new height" in the People's Army.

"Vietnam highly appreciates China's experiences in the process of reform, construction and national development. The Communist Party of Vietnam, the Vietnamese government and Vietnamese people consistently treasure the development of relations with China," said an editorial carried in the New Hanoi.

Source: Xinhua