Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), met in Beijing Tuesday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.

Li said that Phan's current China tour, his second visit to China as prime minister, will further promote Sino-Vietnamese good-neighborly cooperative relations.

Over the past several years, Chinese and Vietnamese leaders have maintained close contacts, and increased mutual understanding and trust, Li said.

Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Le Kha Phieu, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, met twice last year and defined the guidelines and framework for developing bilateral relations in the coming century, Li said.

Li said the two countries have enhanced cooperation in political, economic and other fields, and they successfully resolved the land border issue last year. China is satisfied with the smooth development of the two countries' relations, Li said.

He said that the contacts between the parliaments of the two countries are an important part of Sino-Vietnamese relations. The contacts in this regard over the past years have been "frequent and good," he said.

Nong Duc Manh, chairman of the National Assembly (Quoc hoi) of Vietnam, visited China last April. Li and Nong met again at the millennium conference of national parliament leaders in New York last month. The two leaders exchanged views on issues of common concern and reached a consensus on a wide range of issues, according to Li.

The contacts between the two parliaments serve as a bridge of friendship for the two peoples, and the Chinese NPC highly values the contacts with the Vietnamese National Assembly, he added.

Phan said Vietnam and China are now witnessing the best period of bilateral relations. The land border treaty signed late last year is a milestone in the history of the relations between Vietnam and China, he said.

He said Vietnam is ready to work with China to resolve the demarcation of the Beibu Bay within the year and promote Vietnamese-Chinese relations to a new high in the next century.

Vietnam is gratified with the development of the two countries' economic and trade relations and believes there is a broad prospect for bilateral cooperation, he said.

Phan described the cooperation between Vietnamese and Chinese parliaments as fruitful, and said legislative bodies of the two countries should continue the cooperation as the two countries are both carrying out reforms.

(Xinhua 09/27/2000)