Dung, who is in Chengdu city, Sichuanprovince, China, to attend the 10th Western China InternationalEconomic and Trade Fair, was welcomed by his host as making animportant visit to contribute to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnershipbetween the two countries.
Wen also recognised Vietnam as a good neighbour and important partner of China.
“The Party, Government and people of China always respect the friendlyand cooperative relations with Vietnam,” the Chinese leaderemphasised.
His view was echoed by the Vietnamese leader, who pledged to work withChina in building a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
The duo reached a consensus on a number of major measures to boosteconomic, trade and investment relations in an effort to maintain thecurrent bilateral trade growth and meet high-level commitments toreaching 25 billion USD in trade revenue by 2010.
These measures include a plan to open a direct air route from Vietnamand Chengdu city to boost trade flows between the Southeast Asiancountry and western China .
They also pushed for the signing of agreements on rules for border and border gate management, separately, before 2009.
Other highlights were an early signing of accords on joint touristprogrammes at Ban Gioc water fall and free movement of ships throughthe Bac Luan river gate in 2010.
The two Government leaders expressed their strong belief that seaissues would be gradually resolved along with the fine development ofbilateral relations, based on international law, especially the 1982 UNConvention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct ofParties in the East Sea (DOC).
Such an outcome is necessary to meet the legitimate aspirations andinterests of the two peoples as well as for peace, stability,cooperation and development in the region, said the two leaders.
The two premiers also agreed to work together in strengtheningrelations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),of which Vietnam is a member, and China .
The two leaders met again on the day at the 10th Western ChinaInternational Economic and Trade Fair and the second Western ChinaForum on International Cooperation, where Wen delivered the openingspeech and Dung followed suit.
In his speech, Dung hailed China as a leading trade partner of Vietnam, attaining 12.5 billion USD in two-way trade in the first eight monthsof the year despite the global economic downturn.
The figure is expected to reach 19-20 billion USD by the end of theyear as Vietnam is gradually emerging as an important partner of China, he said.
China is also a major foreign investor with over 650 projectscapitalised at over 2.6 billion USD, not counting investments from HongKong and Macao .
He also highlighted Vietnam ’s economic growth of 4.6 percent in thefirst nine months of the year, which is expected to reach 5-5.2 percentby the year’s end, despite the rocky global economic landscape duringthe period.
Vietnam has attracted over 12.5 billion USD in foreign directinvestment, helping the country gradually lift itself out of animpending economic slump.
After the opening ceremony, Dung was shown around the fair and visited 90 pavilions set up by 40 Vietnamese businesses./.