BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The visiting Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem said on Monday that he had confidence in Vietnam-China relations.

    The relations between China and Vietnam have witnessed sound development in recent years, Pham said, adding that the two sides have reached consensus on developing economic cooperation, solving boundary issue and promoting cultural exchanges.

    The exchanges of high-level visits are conducive to enhancing mutual understanding and trust and become an impetus to bilateral ties, Pham told reporters during an interview.

    "We are glad to see that the economic and trade relations achieved remarkable development with increasing of bilateral trade volume, and we just signed an agreement on expanding and deepening our economic cooperation," he said.

    The total trade volume between Vietnam and China hit almost 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, up 21.4 percent from the previous year.

    There are over 400 Chinese investment projects in Vietnam with a total registration fund of more than one billion U.S. dollars, according to Pham.

    "Vietnam and China are good neighbors with traditional friendship," he said.

    The bilateral ties will be cemented with joint efforts from the two sides so as to contribute to peace and stability in Asia and the whole world, Pham added.

    Pham arrived in Beijing Saturday for a six-day official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.