Vietnam and China have issued a joint statement on continuing to promote and deepen the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership on the occasion of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s official visit to China from October 31 - November 1.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son highlighted the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China in his article published on the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on October 30.

China will work together with Vietnam to preserve the traditional friendship, deepen the comprehensive strategic cooperation between the two countries, protect common strategic interests and promote the bilateral relationship, Chinese Ambassador Xiong Bo has affirmed.

Vietnam is determined to firmly protect its independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests in line with its policies and international law, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said on November 18 during the question-and-answer session of the ongoing 10th session of the National Assembly.

Three accords concluded on November 18 last year that define the land border between Vietnam and China officially took effect on July 14.

The borderline between Vietnam and China stretches about 1,400 km (including some 300 km of river and stream borderlines) along seven Vietnamese provinces (from west to east). It has taken shape through thousands of years of history and existed fairly stably since Vietnam gained independence from northern feudal rulers.

On July 29, 2005, the Vietnamese Fisheries Ministry held a meeting reviewing one year of implementation of the Agreement on Fishery Cooperation between Vietnam and China in the Beibu (Tonkin or Bac Bo) Gulf. Over the past year, the two countries have made great efforts to stabilize fishery activity and maintain sustainable development and stability in the gulf for the purpose of enhancing trust and development of the relation between the two countries.