Vietnam wants to accelerate the construction of two economic corridors between Vietnam and China and the Beibu Gulf economic belt.

Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong made the remarks Friday when meeting with visiting secretary of the Communist Party of China Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Committee, Cao Bochun.

Luong said the construction of the two corridors and the belt is a broad strategic policy issued by leaders of Vietnam and China, and it is of great importance to his country's modernization. The belt and one of the corridors relate to Guangxi.

Now, the transport network linking Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi, to the Friendship Border Gate with Vietnam's northern Lang Son province and to Hanoi has been basically completed, but that in the Beibu Gulf economic belt involving coastal areas of Guangxi and coastal localities of Vietnam has yet to be formed.

When completed, transport networks in the two corridors and the belt will help promote the development of industry, trade and tourism. The president said Vietnam is determined to implement the strategic policy of two corridors and one belt.

In the short term, works will mainly involve in relevant zoning, and calculating and seeking funds for the construction of the corridors and the belt, he said.

He expressed his desire that Vietnam and China will complete their planting of border marks before 2008, making contribution to the construction of Vietnam-China border areas with mutual trust, long-term stability and prosperous economy.

The president also expressed his ideas that Vietnam will join hands with China in holding the 3rd China-ASEAN trade fair, partly by actively bringing its enterprises to the event to be held in Nanning.

Cao Bochun said Guangxi attaches great importance to the construction of the two economic corridors and the belt, and it has established an appropriate agency to take full advantage of resources in the Beibu Gulf and economic zones in Guangxi and Vietnam.

Cao proposed that Guangxi and Vietnam would strengthen their cooperative ties in such fields as transport, energy, industry and tourism. He also said Guangxi, being a border locality of China, really wants to speed up the process of planting border marks.

Also on Friday, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with Cao. The two sides exchanged views about the development of the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and China, especially the trade and economic ties between Vietnam and Guangxi.

The Guangxi delegation led by Cao arrived in Vietnam on April 13. Vietnam is the first leg of his 10-day tour, which will also take him to Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia, mainly to introduce the 3rd China-ASEAN trade fair and promote trade and economic relations between Guangxi and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Source: Xinhua