LONG-TERM PAINS

Trade between China and Vietnam has grown rapidly. By 2013, China had been Vietnam's largest trade partner for nine years in a row. Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries totaled 65.48 billion U.S. dollars, up 30 percent year on year, Chinese customs data showed.

"It is fair to say that the two countries have close trade and investment ties and China is a major market for Vietnam," said Wang Xiaopeng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"It's impossible for Vietnam to maintain normal trade with China if Vietnam continues its provocative activities toward China," Wang said.

Wang warned that provocations might eat into Vietnam's hard-won success from 28 years of reform and opening up, as the current tensions over the South China Sea have already damaged Vietnam's image as a friendly investment destination.

Nguyen Duc Thanh, director of Vietnam Center for Economic and Policy Research under Vietnam National University, forecast that Vietnam's economic growth in 2014 is expected to range from 4.15 to 4.88 percent, lower than the 5.42-percent rate in 2013 and the 5.8-percent growth target for 2014.

Meanwhile, regional partnership may also be impacted, said Wu Shicun, head of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

As China strives to boost regional cooperation with the ASEAN through proposals such as the Maritime Silk Road, Pan-Beibu Gulf economic cooperation and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Vietnam's move to stir disputes may push China to review its strategies in Southeast Asia and drag out the progress of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) talks due to reach an agreement in 2015 as well as the establishment of a Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific, Wu said.

Mutual respect and win-win cooperation are not only beneficial for the two countries but also for the whole Asian region, Wu added.