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HANOI, Oct. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- China and Vietnam have set a goal of increasing
their bilateral trade to 10 billion US dollars in 2010,Chinese Foreign Minister
Li Zhaoxing said here Saturday.
The two governments also vowed to complete on-going projects and explore
new areas for cooperation between China and Vietnam, Li told reporters.
The agreement was cemented during the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
to Vietnam which Li described as fruitful, effective and pragmatic. During his
visit, the Chinese premier attended the fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Oct.
6-9.
"The trip demonstrates China's peaceful foreign policy of
good-neighborliness and greatly advances relations between China and other Asian
and European countries," Li said.
As relations with the European Union and the Association of theSoutheast
Asian Nations have been furthered, China will continue to enhance all-round
cooperation with Asian and European countriesso as to make a bigger contribution
to the peace and development in the two regions, Li told reporters.
Li noted that during Wen's visit to Vietnam, he had reached consensus with
the Vietnamese leaders on safeguarding and developing bilateral relations.
He said Wen highlighted the strengthening of good-neighbor relations which
conforms to the top common interests of the two countries, helps develop their
economies and contributes to the peace and development of Asia and the world.
The premier said consensus and cooperation are pre-eminent in
Sino-Vietnamese ties. The two sides should follow the guidelines of "long-term
stability, future orientation, good-neighborly friendship and all-round
cooperation," and remove their differences through dialogue in the spirit of
mutual understandingfrom a long-term perspective, Li added.
Vietnamese leaders vowed to further develop the friendship and cooperation
with China. They reiterated Vietnam will adhere to theone-China policy, oppose
any activities to separate Taiwan from its motherland and will not build up any
official links with Taiwan, Li said.
During Wen's visit, the two sides signed eight documents. The two countries
agreed to speed up the land border demarcation and implement the two agreements
on demarcation and fishery cooperation in Beibu Bay.
Wen also laid the foundation for the friendship palace, a venuefor holding
exchange activities between China and Vietnam, sponsored by the Chinese
government.
"The visit meets the goal of strengthening the good-neighborliness,
political trust and all-round cooperation between China and Vietnam," Li
concluded.
On the fifth ASEM summit, the minister said the meeting was held against a
backdrop of the complex international situation andthe changing milieu in Asia
and Europe. The ASEM completed its first expansion with 13 new members and
marked a new era for Asia-Europe cooperation.
Leaders adopted at the summit the chairman's statement, a declaration on a
closer economic partnership between Asia and Europe, and a declaration on
dialogue of culture and civilization.
ˇˇWen, who attended the two-day ASEM for the first time as premier, delivered
a speech at the meeting giving proposals for advancing political dialogue,
economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges between the two
continents.
The proposals on holding a forum among the leaders of youth organizations
and an Asia-Europe trade and investment fair were accepted by the summit, Li
said.
Wen met with leaders from South Korea, Britain, Spain, Japan, Germany, the
Netherlands and other countries during his stay in Hanoi. All stressed their
desires to expand cooperation with China.
At the summit, the premier also introduced China's socialist market economy
and its policies on energy and exchange rate. He reiterated China will continue
the reform and opening-up drive andhonor its commitments to the World Trade
Organization, Li said. Enditem |