On October 19, 2003, President Hu Jintao met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, during which they held friendly and cordial dialogue.

Hu said ties between the two countries, guided by the principles of long-term stability, orientation towards the future, good-neighborly friendship and all-around cooperation, have progressed soundly, noting that during the visit to China last year by General Secretary Nong Duc Manh of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), consensus was reached on many important issues on strengthening the ties between the two countries and between the Communist Party of China and the CPV. He added that relevant departments of the two sides have worked hard recently to implement such consensus, registering many new results in the exchange and cooperation in various areas.

Hu said the new generation of China's leadership would, as always, attach great importance to the development of ties with Vietnam and will unswervingly adhere to the good-neighborly Sino-Vietnamese friendship and push forward cooperation in all areas.

The Vietnamese prime minister, for his part, praised the historic achievements made in the past decade in Vietnam-China relations, saying that Hanoi would work together with the Chinese side to advance bilateral friendly cooperation in an all-around fashion according to the above-mentioned principles.