The land border demarcation between China and Vietnam is progressing ahead after three years' joint efforts.

"Along the boundary between southwest China's Yunnan Province and Vietnam, both sides have located 296 border markers, erected 258 border markers and surveyed and determined a 294-kilometer line of demarcation," said an official from the foreign affairs department of the province.

China and Vietnam, which borders China's Yunnan Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have been negotiating on the land border issue since the 1970s. In December 1999, the two countries signed in Hanoi the landmark Land Boundary Treaty.

The treaty, which took effect in 2000, set the orientation of border between the two countries. Since then the two sides set off on the preparations for the survey and border marker erection.

During a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Vietnam from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, China and Vietnam issued a joint statement, agreeing to speed up the process of land border demarcation and work closely to ensure that the work will be finished and a new border administration document signed by 2008 on schedule.

The border demarcation will proceed in line with the Land Boundary Treaty with reference to actual topography and historical governance, the provincial official said.

In July and September 2002, China and Vietnam launched the work on demarcation in Yunnan Province, according to the official.

Source: Xinhua