China and Vietnam should join hands to cope with crises and achieve mutual development, Vietnamese Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said on October 20.

Speaking at the Roundtable Dialogue of the 6th China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, Mr. Nguyen said, "I hope the two sides would continue to further cooperation in trade, investment and infrastructure, and promote the stable development of bilateral ties."

China-Vietnam trade and economic relations have developed smoothly in recent years. China has been Vietnam's biggest trade partner for five successive years. Vietnam has also become one of the major destinations for Chinese enterprises' foreign direct investment, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

At the forum, Nguyen called on intensifying cooperation in areas of trade and investment, tourism, and agriculture.

According to Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade in August, the bilateral trade between Vietnam and China in the first six months of this year saw an 18.29 percent decrease year-on-year to about 8.83 billion US dollars.

Figures from Xinhua News Agency showed that Vietnam exported more than 1.97 billion US dollars of goods to China, down 3.53 percent year-on-year. Vietnam spent nearly 6.86 billion US dollars importing goods from China, down 21.72 percent year-on-year.

Nevertheless, the deputy prime minister still holds strong confidence in the economic cooperation and expressed willingness to expand cooperation, boost the construction of major projects and achieve mutually-beneficial development.

"The financial crisis is a serious challenge to both Vietnam and China," Nguyen said. "I hope to make joint efforts with China to maintain and expand bilateral trade, create favorable conditions for enterprises' two-way investment, speed up implementation of trade and economic cooperation projects, and promote trade and economic cooperation between the two countries to a new high."

He called for China and ASEAN to increase investment in each other's markets, primarily in infrastructure such as railways, roads, airports and bridges.

Vietnam spent the majority of its money on purchasing goods from China, including clothes, electronic products, equipment and fertilizers. Figures indicated coal being exported to China brought in 422.74 million US dollars. It was followed by steel, rubber and crude oil.

For future cooperation, Vietnam will speed up export of both raw materials and processed products to China, improve the quality of exports, and provide information about China's market trends and trade policies to Vietnamese exporters, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade said earlier.

Wan Jifei, chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, also said at the forum that China should promote steady development of bilateral trade and economic relations through various channels. He welcomed Vietnamese entrepreneurs to continue to expand investment and trade in China.

China Construction Bank Chairman Guo Shuqing stressed Sino-Vietnamese economic relations at the Roundtable Dialogue. He suggested that the two sides strengthen mutual trust, particularly in trade and financial areas.

"There is huge potential for financial cooperation as the two sides record fast development in the financial sector. The financial ties are inadequate to keep up with the trade exchanges," said Mr. Nguyen.