Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and his Vietnamese counterpart Phan Van Khai expressed their satisfaction in Hanoi Thursday with a report on the negotiations of the land boundary between the two countries, a Chinese spokesman said.

At their meeting, the two premiers reached "important consensus" on the report which was prepared by the heads of the two negotiation teams.

They also spoke highly of the approach to settle the territorial issue with a strategic perspective, which has been taken by the general secretaries of the communist parties of the two countries.

The spokesman gave no details of the negotiations.

The two premiers held in-depth discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues and reached broad consensus.

Khai said Zhu's visit will contribute greatly to the development of a future-oriented relationship of long-term stability, good neighborliness and all-round cooperation between

the two countries.

The Vietnamese prime minister said his country attaches great importance to the friendly cooperation with China, saying frequent high-level exchanges serve very much the promotion of relations between the two communist parties and two countries.

While pursuing reforms and opening-up, both countries are upholding the socialist orientation and communist leadership, Khai said, adding that the traditional Vietnam-China cooperation must

be carried on.

Zhu said the relations between the two parties and two countries have developed in an all-round way since they were back on the normal track eight years ago and high-level meetings

between them. Sino-Vietnamese relations is not only conducive to the two countries' respective development, but also to peace and stability in the region and the world at large, he said.

The two leaders also discussed ways of promoting economic and trade cooperation between China and Vietnam, agreeing that more efforts are needed in this regard.

Zhu said the Chinese government will continue to support and encourage Chinese investment in Vietnam, especially in the areas of farm produce processing, machinery, household electrical appliances, and the assembly of electronic and telecommunication products. (Xinhua)