Premier Zhu Rongji Meets Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (2000/11/25)

Premier Zhu Rongji met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai on Nov. 25, 2000.

Zhu said that the Sino-Vietnamese relations have been developing smoothly and China attaches great importance to and is making active preparation for Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong's upcoming visit to China. He added that President Jiang Zemin is looking forward to meeting with Tran Duc Luong and exchanging views with him on how to further enhance Sino-Vietnamese relations in the new century and on other issues of common concern. Zhu went on to say that he was pleased to note that bilateral economic and trade cooperation has scored new progress and bilateral trade volume is likely to reach two billion U.S. dollars this year and key cooperation projects are going smoothly. He added that China stands ready to join efforts with the Vietnamese side to do more to further consolidate and strengthen bilateral relations.

Phan Van Khai expressed his satisfaction with the sound development of Vietnam-China ties. He noted that General Secretary Jiang Zemin of the Chinese Communist Party and General Secretary Le Kha Phieu of the Vietnamese Communist Party have reached an important consensus on building a long-term stable and 21st century-oriented relations between the two countries. On the basis of the consensus, Phan believes that the visit by President Tran Duc Luong will certainly further advance the Vietnam-China relations. He also briefed Zhu on the suggestions of the Vietnamese side on how to further deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation. 

Zhu said that an important task that requires the joint efforts of both sides to be accomplished at the present is an early conclusion of all the substantial negotiations on the demarcation issue of the Beibu Gulf and the arrangements on fishing so as to achieve the goal of inking the demarcation and fishing agreements within this year as scheduled.

Phan, on his part, said that the Vietnamese side agrees to accelerate the process of negotiation with a view to concluding the demarcation of the Beibu Gulf and the signing of the fishing agreement within this year. He also expressed his belief that with the settlement of the demarcation issue of the Beibu Gulf, the relationship between the two countries will experience greater and faster development in the new century.

The two Prime Ministers also agreed that 10+3 and 10+1 reflect the spirits of pragmatism and cooperation and there still exist great potentials and broad prospects for East Asian cooperation.

Zhu said that China stands ready to make concerted efforts with ASEAN countries including Vietnam to earnestly set the process moving.

Nov. 25, 2000