On November 17, 2006, Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese President, met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

 

Hu said the Sino-Vietnamese friendship is the precious treasure of the two sides and is worth cherishing. The smooth development of bilateral ties has brought tangible benefits to both peoples, he said. To strengthen mutual exchange, deepen good-neighborly friendship and expand mutually beneficial cooperation is conducive to their national development, and will serve the interest of both peoples. So long as the two sides focus on their respective development plan and the fundamental interest of both peoples from a strategic and overall perspective, the two countries and two peoples will become good neighbors living in harmony, good friends that treat each other sincerely, good comrades with mutual trust, and good partners with mutual assistance so as to push for bilateral ties.

 

Hu elaborated on his proposals on the economic and trade cooperation. He said the two countries should advance bilateral cooperation in all areas while implementing the agreement on expanding and deepening economic and trade cooperation, encourage their enterprises to expand trade scale, focus on trade of staple commodities and explore new trade growth points. He also urged the two countries to launch large-scale projects in industry, infrastructure and energy areas, and strengthen multilateral economic cooperation.  Hu pointed out that economic and trade cooperation has become a highlight and important impetus of bilateral ties and has played an important role for all-round development of the relations. "China and Vietnam, both as countries with rapid economic growth, have great potential for broader trade and economic cooperation," he added. Hu hoped the two sides step up efforts to implement the trade cooperation agreements already agreed upon to strive for early results and open up a new situation for the economic and trade cooperation.

 

Dung spoke highly of the achievements made during Hu's current state visit. He said Hu's ongoing visit has elevated the all-round friendly cooperation between the two countries and two parties to a new height.

Hailing the consensuses reached by the top leaders of the two countries on further developing bilateral ties as a new milestone, Dung noted the Vietnamese government will earnestly implement them.  Dung agreed to Hu's suggestions on developing trade ties and hoped that both sides will make a long-term plan for the trade cooperation, combine it with their respective future development strategy, and well implement relevant projects so that the economic and trade cooperation will make continuous progress. Dung also highly appreciated China's efforts and contributions to develop its ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), expressing Vietnam's willingness to work with China to promote in-depth development of ASEAN-China cooperation.

 

Wang Gang, Alternate Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and other accompanying officials attended the meeting.