Vietnamese ambassador to China Bui Hong Phuc held a reception in Beijing on January 17 to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Vietnamese diplomatic relations.

Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen, together with other senior Chinese officials, attended the reception.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Yang Wenchang said at the occasion that China and Vietnam are good neighbors, and the people of the two countries have a time-honored friendship. He added that bilateral relations have stood the test of time, and good-neighborliness has characterized their relations for half a century.

He said that the new generation of leaders of the two countries has maintained a tradition of high-level exchanges of visits since the normalization of bilateral relations in 1991, and cooperation in various fields has been expanding.

Yang noted the historic Beijing summit between General Secretary Jiang Zemin of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and his Vietnamese counterpart Le Kha Phieu in February last year, saying that during the summit, the two leadersset a framework for relations oriented toward the 21st century, featured by stability, good-neighborliness and all-round cooperation, marking a brand new era of bilateral relations.

He said that Premier Zhu Rongji also paid a successful visit toVietnam last month, injecting new strength into the development ofSino-Vietnamese relations. He added that the two countries signed a land border treaty on December 30, 1999, marking an end of more than 20 years of land border negotiations.

The Chinese vice-foreign minister said that this signals that the two countries will bring a border that has experienced long-standing peace and friendship into the 21st century. He stressed that the treaty is a model for the demarcation of the Beibu Gulf.

The further strengthening of bilateral relations is in line with the fundamental and long-term interests of the people of the two countries, and is also conducive to their respective socialist modernization and peace, stability and development in the region and the world as a whole, he said.

"We are fully convinced that through joint efforts, good-neighborly Sino-Vietnamese relations will develop further in the new century," Yang said.

Bui Hong Phuc said that the two peoples have forged a deep friendship in their fight for national liberation and socialist construction.

He added that cooperation in political, economic, cultural and tourism areas has been progressing since the normalization of bilateral relations.

The ambassador also pointed to the framework of Sino-Vietnamese relations geared toward the 21st century defined by General Secretary Jiang Zemin and his Vietnamese counterpart Le Kha Phieu, saying that this is not only an important agreement reached by the two countries, but is also the common aspiration of their peoples.

The land border treaty contributes to the further growth of bilateral relations, and will serve to maintain regional peace and stability, Bui Hong Phuc said. He expressed the conviction that all the agreements will be translated into action, and Sino-Vietnamese relations will substantially develop in the years ahead.