The China-Vietnam relationship is one of China's most important diplomatic arrangements, and China is ready to work together with Vietnam to push the good-neighborly friendship and cooperation to a new high, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday.

 

To forge a closer relationship is the common aspiration of both sides and is in line with the fundamental interests of the two nations, Wen said during a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

 

Dung arrived in Nanning, capital of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Monday to attend the commemorative summit marking the 15th anniversary of the China-ASEAN dialogue partnership, the third China-ASEAN Expo, and the third China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

 

Economic and trade cooperation has become an important pillar for the development of China-Vietnam relations. For the time being, both sides should focus on three issues to further promote the cooperation, Wen said.

 

The three issues include: to start the negotiation on an inter-governmental accord on bilateral economic and trade cooperation at an early date, to accelerate the negotiation on a memorandum of understanding on the cooperation in the "Two Corridors, One Circle" region, and to implement the cooperation projects already approved by both governments.

 

China will continue to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Vietnam, and to take effective steps to import more goods from Vietnam, Wen added.

 

Vietnam attaches great importance to the friendly cooperative relations with China, Dung said.

 

Vietnam is willing to maintain high-level exchanges and expand mutually beneficial cooperation with China in a bid to achieve common development, he added.

 

Vietnam hopes that China will help with Vietnam's infrastructure construction, and push forward the two sides' cooperation in the "Two Corridors, One Circle" region, he said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2006)