President Hu Jintao hosts a ceremony on the square outside the East Gate of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to welcome visiting Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong.

On the afternoon of July 18, 2005, Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Duc Luong in the Great Hall of the People. Both sides agreed to take the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties to further strengthen all-round cooperation and push China-Vietnam good-neighborly cooperative relations for faster and better development.

Hu said that under great care and advocacy of the leaders of several generations of the two countries for more than half a century, China-Vietnam traditional friendship has seen constant growth. Under the guideline of "long-term stability, future-orientation, good-neighborliness and comprehensive cooperation", China-Vietnam ties are showing a sound momentum of growth in the new century. The leaders of the two countries maintain frequent contacts. The issues of the land border and the demarcation of the Beibu Bay left over by history have been resolved. Productive results have been achieved in the economic and trade cooperation. Bilateral trade volume keeps growing. The exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, education, science and technology have made productive achievements. Both sides have maintained sound cooperation in international and regional affairs. China appreciates Vietnam for adhering to the one-China policy and supporting the grand undertaking of China's peaceful reunification.

Tran said that in recent years, the two countries have maintained frequent high-level exchanges and reached many important consensuses, which have enhanced mutual political trust, promoted the sustained growth of friendly cooperation, and even contributed to regional and global peace and stability. The bilateral economic and trade cooperation has been growing rapidly with bilateral trade volume up several-fold. The bilateral cultural and social exchanges keep increasing. Both sides have conducted sound coordination and cooperation in international affairs. Tran reaffirmed that the party and government of Vietnam will continue to resolutely adhere to the one-China policy and support the grand cause of China's peaceful reunification.

To further strengthen and develop China-Vietnam good-neighborly friendliness and comprehensive cooperative relationship, deepen pragmatic cooperation and promote common development, Hu put forward the following suggestions on behalf of China: (I) consolidating high-level exchanges and deepening traditional friendship. The leaders of the two countries can exchange views on major issues of common concern in various forms and in a timely manner in a bid to constantly expand mutual political trust and strengthen mutual support; (II) constantly expanding trade volume in an active and pragmatic spirit to push the economic and trade cooperation to a new high. Both sides should pay special attention to the import and export of commodities and further implement the agreed cooperation projects. Both sides should encourage and support the state-owned enterprises of both countries to carry out long-term cooperation in major infrastructure construction and industrial projects, and improve the quality and level of cooperation. Meanwhile, both sides should proceed the long-term perspective of benefiting the bilateral economic and trade cooperation and create favorable conditions and environment for deepening cooperation so as to give full play to each other's advantages and achieve mutual benefits and win-win results; (III) properly handling the land boundary issue and accelerating the process of demarcating land boundaries and laying the boundary stone between the two countries so as to finalize the demarcation as early as possible. Both sides should strengthen communications and cooperation, and jointly safeguard the fishery production order in Beibu Bay and the stability in border regions. Both sides should actively implement the cooperation agreements and related consensuses concerning the South China Sea reached by China, Vietnam and the Philippines, and strive to achieve progress in common exploration at an early date; (IV) strengthening the exchanges and cooperation in the field of humanities and expanding the exchanges of youths and non-governmental exchanges in a bid to lay a firmer base of friendliness for the generations to come. Both sides should strengthen regional cooperation and make joint efforts to realize peace, development and prosperity of the region.

Tran stressed that Vietnam and China are close neighbors with similar histories and confronted with the common task of economic development. China is now the largest trading partner of Vietnam and great potentials exist in the field of economic and trade cooperation. In the new situation, strengthening Vietnam-China friendly relations complies with the fundamental interest of both sides. The party and government of Vietnam will continue as always to give priority to developing the long-term, stable, friendly and cooperative relations with China on the basis of mutual trust and in an all-round manner. The party and government of Vietnam would like to develop Vietnam-China strategic partnership, further expand bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, energy, transportation, and resources exploration and strive to fulfill the goal of doubling the bilateral trade volume by 2010. The Vietnamese side will strengthen the cooperation with the Chinese side to strive for the early finalization of the remaining work on land border demarcation so as to safeguard fishery production order in Beibu Bay and promote common exploration in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, Vietnam supports strengthening the exchanges between the youths and passing down the traditional friendship between Vietnam and China to future generations.

Both sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern and agreed to strengthen the coordination and collaboration in international and regional affairs, to safeguard world peace and stability and to promote common development and prosperity.

Following the talks, the two heads of state attended the signing ceremony of three documents including one on bilateral market access within the WTO.

Prior to the talks, Hu Jintao hosted a welcome ceremony on the square outside the East Gate of the Great Hall of the People for visiting Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong. Vice Chairman Cheng Siwei of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, Vice Chairman Bai Lichen of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Vice Chairman Qi Xuchun of the Revolutionary Committee of Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK), Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Minister Ma Kai of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun, Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and other officials were present at the welcome ceremony.