Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju on Thursday urged Vietnam to take concrete actions to prevent acts infringing on the interests of Chinese fishermen.

He also called upon the Vietnamese side to speed up follow-up talks on Chinese-Vietnamese cooperation on fishery in the Beibu Bay and to safeguard the normal order of fishing in the bay.

Huang made the remarks in talks with visiting Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who arrived in China on Oct. 10 at the invitation of Huang.

Huang also demanded both sides tighten up their efforts in the demarcation of land boundaries between China and Vietnam in the spirit of mutual trust and sincere cooperation, so as to make it a peaceful and friendly boundary.

He said both sides should properly handle the problems arising in their relations from the perspective of safeguarding the smooth development of overall bilateral relations.

Nguyen Tan Dung agreed with Huang, noting that his government is willing to properly handle the problems through friendly coordination and to quicken the talks on boundary demarcation, making it a peaceful and stable boundary.

The two leaders talked more on bilateral trade and economic cooperation, agreeing to take more measures to tap the great potential in this regard as it boasts marvelous prospects.

After the talks, they attended a ceremony for signing four cooperation documents, which are mostly economic in nature.

The two leaders also said the political relations between China and Vietnam have witnessed smooth development in an all-around manner, extending the hope of better strengthening the friendly cooperative ties between the two countries.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2003)