HANOI, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The official visit to China by the Vietnamese party top leader is an important milestone in the two countries' efforts in consolidating and strengthening the bilateral friendly ties and comprehensive cooperation, major newspapers reported Friday.

    The four-day trip which starts Friday by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nong Duc Manh will help bring the friendly relations and all-round cooperation between the two parties, states and peoples to a new development stage, meeting their aspirations and benefits, and for peace, cooperation and development, People's Army newspaper said in its editorial.

    The visit contributes to affirming that the Vietnamese party, state and people have attached importance to consolidating and developing the Vietnam-China friendly ties and comprehensive cooperation, said the People newspaper.

    During the visit, Manh will share sympathy with the Chinese party, state and people over human and property losses caused by are cent earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province.

    Since the normalization of diplomatic ties in 1991, Vietnam and China have signed 54 state-level agreements and 59 cooperation documents, creating a legal foundation for long-term cooperation, Vietnam News newspaper said.

    Economic ties have been considerably developed with China becoming Vietnam's top partner with two-way trade reaching 15 billion U.S. dollars in 2007, a year-on-year rise of 44 percent, according to Vietnam's statistics.