On October 8, 2004, the governments of the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam issued a joint communiqué. The full text of the communiqué is as follows:
Joint Communiqué between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
I. At the invitation of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council of the People's Republic of China paid an official visit to Vietnam from October 6 to 7, 2004. During the visit, Premier Wen Jiabao held a talk with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and met with Secretary General Nong Duc Manh of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong and Chairman Nguyen Van An of the National Assembly. Leaders of the two countries exchanged views on strengthening bilateral relations and on international and regional affairs of common concern in a sincere, friendly and practical atmosphere and reached consensus in a variety of fields. The visit achieved full success.
II. Both sides are glad to see that guided by the principle of "long-term stability, orientation to the future, good-neighborliness and friendship and all-round cooperation" defined by the leaders of the two countries Sino-Vietnamese relations are developing rapidly, comprehensively and deeply. The leaders of both sides have exchanged visits frequently, mutual political trust is being strengthened, significant achievements have been made in the fields of economic and trade cooperation, major progresses have been realized in the settlement of such historical problems as boundary and territory, and exchange and cooperation in other fields are also being expanded. The two sides support and coordinate with each other in both international and regional affairs.
III. Both sides believe that China and Vietnam have common strategic interest on many major issues. To maintain the stable, sound and smooth development of bilateral ties at a time of fundamental changes in the international situation is in the interest of the two countries and their people and conducive to regional and world peace and development as well. The governments of both countries, taking into account the overall situation and starting from a strategic perspective, are determined to follow the above principle, carry on the traditional friendship, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, appropriately handle sensitive issues in a timely manner and constantly push the relationship between China and Vietnam to new levels.
Both sides agree to maintain frequent exchanges between leaders of the two countries, strengthen the friendly exchanges between their government agencies, local governments and civil organizations, strictly implement the cooperation documents signed by the ministries of foreign affairs, national defense and public security of both countries and effectively strengthen mutual understanding and trust. Both parties express willingness to deepen all-round cooperation, encourage and support their practical cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, technology, education and culture, and try their best to seek and expand common interest. They also agree to enhance exchange of experiences in running the party and state and the theories and practices of socialism, promote the development of the "Friendship Meeting of Chinese and Vietnamese Youth", accelerate exchanges of the youth of both countries and enhance publicity of the friendship between China and Vietnam.
IV. Both sides are satisfied with the progress in their economic and trade relations and express commitment to continuing to deepen mutually beneficial coordination. They reach consensus on expanding transactions of bulk commodities, maintaining the rapid and sustained growth of bilateral trade so that the trade volume between the two countries can reach $10 billion by 2010 and gradually narrow down imbalance in bilateral trade relations. Both sides note that they will accelerate the implementation of the already established cooperative projects, encourage and support businesses of both sides to conduct long-term cooperation in major infrastructure and industrial programs, and improve the quality of bilateral economic and trade cooperation. They also agree to establish an expert panel, under the framework of China-Vietnam economic and trade cooperation commission, to discuss the feasibility of building the "Kunming – Laojie – Hanoi – Hai Phong – Quang Ninh" and "Nanning – Liangshan – Hanoi – Hai Phong – Quang Ninh" economic corridors and the Beibu Bay economic rim.
Both sides agree to jointly promote the development of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. Vietnam acknowledges China's complete market economy status and promises not to use Articles 15 and 16 of the Protocol on Accession of China to the WTO and the 242nd paragraph of the Working Party Report on China's Accession to the WTO. China recognizes the market economy status of Vietnam, supports Vietnam's efforts to join the World Trade Organization at the earliest date possible and is willing to make joint efforts with Vietnam in this regard. Both parties, in the spirit of being practical and flexible, will complete the negotiations on bilateral market access as soon as possible.
V. Both parties hold that the special meeting between the chief negotiators on the boundary issue of the two governments held in August 2004, the agreement on implementing the major consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and the minute of that meeting are conducive to furthering mutual trust, effectively preventing the emergence of boundary and territorial problems and tackling such problems in a timely manner whenever they occur. Both parties agree to take effective measures to implement the minute as soon as possible.
Both sides agree to accelerate the process of boundary survey and the erection of boundary markers along the land border between China and Vietnam. Related government departments and local governments of the two countries will be required to work hard to strengthen mutual trust and cooperate sincerely so as to accomplish the survey and erection of boundary markers as scheduled and build the land border into a boundary of peace, friendship and cooperation between both countries. During the process of boundary survey and the erection of boundary markers, both sides will faithfully maintain the status quo of border and manage the boundary strictly following the Interim Agreement on Handling Border Issues between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam reached in 1991.
Both sides highly compliment the Beibu Bay Demarcation Agreement and the Agreement on Fishery Cooperation going into effect on June 30, 2004 simultaneously, which they believe is a significant event in the Sino-Vietnamese relations, conducive to the permanent peace and stability of Beibu Bay region and of great importance to the long-term stable development of bilateral ties. The two countries are satisfied with the implementation of the above two agreements and stress that they will continue to coordinate closely in implementing the two agreements strictly. They express the commitment to jointly maintaining peace and stability in the Beibu Bay, promoting long-term cooperation and bringing benefit to the two peoples in the spirit of mutual understanding and concessions and without resort to radical action or force.
Both parties agree to strictly follow the consensus reached by the high-level leaders of both governments and the purpose and principles of the Declaration on The Conduct of Parties in The South China Sea (DOC) signed between China and the member states of ASEAN. The two parties will remain restrained, neither adopting unilateral action which might add to the complexity or expand existing disputes nor resorting to force or threats by force, including not resorting to force against fishing boats. Both sides will take tangible actions to maintain the stability of the South China Sea.
Both sides emphasize that they will retain the negotiation mechanism on marine issues and increase rounds of negotiations. They insist to seek fundamental and permanent solutions which are acceptable to both parties through peaceful negotiations. Prior to the final settlement of those issues, both sides will follow the spirit of addressing easy problems first and then difficult ones, continue to strengthen cooperation in fields with lower sensitivity which are of common concern to both parties and gradually explore how to expand cooperation in other identified fields.
VI. The Vietnamese government reiterates that it will continue to firmly uphold the one-China policy, support China's lofty cause of national reunification and oppose the separatist activities of "Taiwan independence" in whatever form. Vietnam only maintains non-official economic and trade contact with Taiwan and resolutely refrains from establishing official relations with Taiwan.
VII. Both sides agree to continue to strengthen cooperation and coordination of the two countries in the United Nations, ASEAN, ASEAN Regional Forum, APEC, ASEM, Greater Mekong Sub-region and other multilateral organizations. They also express commitment to building a fair and rational new international political and economic order and contributing to the regional and international peace, stability and development.