The upcoming visit, the first by a high-ranking Chinese leadersince the country’s new leadership took office, is of great significanceto reinforcing political trust and promoting the comprehensivestrategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China .
Since the normalisation of the bilateral relations in 1991, theVietnam-China friendship and cooperation have developed strongly andintensively in all fields, bringing practical benefits to both nations.
The two countries have signed many cooperation agreements, thuscreating a legal foundation for their long-term cooperativerelationship.
Relations in such important areas as diplomacy,security and defence have been boosted through the implementation of theagreements reached in the fields.
Annually, the two sidesexchange over 200 visits of delegations at all levels, contributing toenhancing understanding and boosting cooperation between the twonations.
Meanwhile, ties between Vietnamese and Chinese localities have been also stepped up through agreements and exchanges.
In the field of economics, China remained one of Vietnam ’s leading trade partners since 2004.
In 2012, two-way trade turnover between the two countries topped over41 billion USD and in the first eight months of this year, the bilateraltrade hit 31.8 billion USD.
High-ranking leaders of the twonations have met and proposed many measures to maintain the growth ofthe bilateral trade, while improving trade balance.
Theinvestment cooperation between the two sides has also leapt forwards asmany big Chinese groups hope to invest in Vietnam .
As of theend of August 2013, China had 934 projects in Vietnam with atotal registered capital of 4.79 billion USD, standing 13 th among the101 countries and territories to have invested in the country.
Over the recent years, China has constantly provided preferential loans and grants to Vietnam .
The country has lent Vietnam 1.6 billion USD, focused in thefields of industry, mining, railway development, energy, textiles andchemistry.
Cooperation between Vietnam and China ineducation, culture and sport has also grown, with China providing140 long-term and short-term scholarships every year. At present, about13,500 Vietnamese students are studying in China , while about 3,500Chinese students are being trained in Vietnam .
The issues ofborders and territory are also a focus of attention of the twocountries. After nomalising bilateral relations, in 1993, the twonations signed an agreement on the basic principles for resolvingterritorial and border issues. They have also conducted negotiations onland border, Bac Bo ( Tonkin ) Gulf delimitation and the issue at sea (East Sea ).
Leaders of the two nations held many discussionson the East Sea issue. In a multilateral framework, ASEAN,including Vietnam , and China have signed the Declaration on theConduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), the guidelines for theimplementation of the DOC and the ASE AN-China Joint Statement andothers.
On the occasion of the visit, Vietnamese Prime MinisterNguyen Tan Dung and his counterpart Li Keqiang will discuss and map outmeasures to further promote cooperation between the two countries in allareas, especially in economics and trade.
They also will exchange their views on regional and international issues of common concern.-VNA