HANOI, Oct. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnam's northern provinces, hoping to enjoy closer all-round relations with Chinese localities, are taking concrete measures to strengthen their border trade, and better deal with border-related issues, a local official said.

    "Fueled by traditional friendly relations between Vietnam and China, and increasing mutual understanding about customs, culture and economy, our border trade will certainly increase. The two countries have recently signed many cooperative documents," Bui Quang Vinh, chairman of the People's Committee of Vietnam's northern Lao Cai province, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

    The Vietnamese government has attached importance to developing border localities, especially provinces bordering China, pouring an increasing amount of investment into infrastructure construction and upgrading. It has issued border-related policies,aiming at further socio-economic development in the localities, such as establishing border economic areas where both Vietnamese and Chinese investors enjoy tax and non-tax incentives, and simplifying customs procedures to facilitate flows of goods and people via border gates.

    To boost economic, trade relations with China in general, and between Lao Cai and Chinese Yunnan province in particular, the Vietnamese province is accelerating the upgrading of its infrastructure works, especially the Lao Cai international border gate, the acquirement of business information from the Chinese side, and the management of border-related activities, Vinh said.

    "We've moved all relevant offices to an concentrated area to save travel cost and time for both Vietnamese and Chinese enterprises. We're building a 17-story trade center at the border gate to lure companies in the two countries there for trade promotion and exchange," he said, noting that Lao Cai is also upgrading warehouses and stations as well as calling for firms operating in "clean" industries like recycling, packaging and assembling to invest in its industrial complexes.

    Facing the situation that Vietnamese enterprises know little about Chinese partners' goods demand and quality, and that many transactions are not conducted directly, but via intermediators, Lao Cai has beefed up ties with Chinese government agencies and sectors, especially the branch of the China Trade Promotion Association in China's southwestern region which has opened a representative office in the Vietnamese province to offer businesses demand and prices of goods as well as policies of the two countries.

    "To jointly move farther, we (Lao Cai and Yunnan) have reached consensus on building an economic cooperation area involving Lao Cai and Honghe (a prefecture of Yunnan). This important cooperation will help the two sides tap their advantages: being a trade entrance to Vietnam, China and ASEAN," the chairman stated.

    Lao Cai and Honghe jointly built the scheme last month in a move to modernize the Lao Cai international border gate, turning it into a major transit point for goods and services in the economic corridor of Kunming-Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong and the free trade area between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).