Hu Jintao Meets Vietnamese President

Hu Jintao Meets Vietnamese President

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China is satisfied with the smooth development of the party and state ties with Vietnam, and feels confident of a better China-Vietnam relationship in the future, Vice-President Hu Jintao said Thursday in a meeting with Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong.

Hu, Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, is leading a CPC delegation here to attend the 9th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), while Luong is also standing committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPV Central Committee.

Conveying General Secretary Jiang Zemin and other Chinese leaders' greetings to Luong, Hu said China and Vietnam cherish a long history of traditional friendship.

In recent years, under the principle of building the long-term, stable, future-oriented, good-neighborly and all-round cooperative relations for the 21st century, set forth by top leaders of the two nations, bilateral contacts at all levels have been frequent, with the economic and trade cooperation entering into a new stage, Hu said.

He noted both sides have maintained close cooperation in regional and international issues, and the China-Vietnam ties have shown a new momentum of development.

When Luong visited China last year, both sides published joint statement and signed several important agreements, such as the agreement on the demarcation in the Beibu Gulf and the agreement on fishery cooperation, which outlined directions and tasks for strengthening and expanding bilateral cooperation in various fields, Hu said.

This has demonstrated that both sides, proceeding from the strategic height, work to promote the good-neighborly and friendly Sino-Vietnamese ties of all-round cooperation, he said, adding this is new contribution to peace, stability and development in the region and the world as a whole.

Agreeing Hu on his comment on the Vietnam-China ties, Luong said bilateral friendly cooperative ties have scored satisfactory promotion, while the exchanges and cooperation are increasingly tightened.

His visit to China last year left him a deep impression, he said, adding that China is building up its country with its own characteristics, while Vietnam is also developing its socialist market economy.

Both countries share similar circumstances and problems, thus needing to exchange experiences and learn from each other, Luong said.

He stated that the Vietnamese party, government and people value the important consensus and guidelines set for by top leaders of the two parties, and are willing to continue to implement the documents and agreements signed between the two sides.

They are also ready to strengthen friendly cooperation in exchanging experiences in administering the country, promoting the economic and trade contacts, and expanding international cooperation, he added.

Terming the 9th congress as an important political event for the Vietnamese people and a conference of historic importance in the CPV history, Hu wished it a complete success, and be one of wisdom, unity and victory.

Hu spoke highly of the achievements Vietnam has made under the leadership of the CPV, and of its adherence to the socialist road, saying that the Vietnamese people will surely score even greater progress in the new century.

Luong said the Vietnamese people are very glad that the CPC has sent such a high-level delegation headed by Hu for the 9th congress. He asked Hu to pass on his best regards and thanks to Jiang Zemin.