The Chinese and Vietnamese leaders exchanged congratulatory messages Tuesday to mark the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message to Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong and Vietnamese Communist Party's General-Secretary Nong Duc Manh, Chinese President Hu Jintao said the traditional friendly relations and cooperation between China and Vietnam have been excellent over the years under the guidance of the principles of long-term stability, looking to the future, good-neighborly friendship and all-round cooperation.

The leaders of the two countries have, through frequent exchanges of visits, reached important consensus on enhancing political mutual trust and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, said Hu, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

As a result, he said, the bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields have constantly expanded and deepened, the two-way trade has increased drastically and the territorial issues left over from history have been gradually solved.

Hu said the past 55 years proved that this friendly relationship not only serves the fundamental interests of the peoples of both countries but also contributes to peace, stability and development in the region.

Hu assured the Vietnamese leadership that the Chinese party and government attach great importance to developing relations with Vietnam and will continue to work with the Vietnamese side to promote mutual trust and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation so as to push bilateral relations to a new level.

The message, also addressed to Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An, was co-signed by Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress and Wen Jiabao, premier of the State Council.

In a joint message to Hu, Nong Duc Manh and Tran Duc Luong said the Vietnamese Communist Party, the government and the people are very grateful to China for its genuine help in Vietnam's national liberation struggle and its development cause in the past 55 years.

The Vietnamese leadership was happy to see that the tradition of friendly relations has been carried on and strengthened and the good-neighborly friendship and cooperation developed quickly between the two countries, they said.

The year of 2004 witnessed a string of developments which significantly improved mutual understanding and deepened mutual trust between the two parties and governments, including the meeting between Tran Duc Luong and Hu Jintao during an APEC conference, and the exchange of visits by the Vietnamese prime minister and his Chinese counterpart, they said.

The prospect of building closer bilateral ties is promising as exchanges at different levels keep increasing, trade cooperation bears fruits and the land border demarcation progresses smoothly, the Vietnamese leaders said.

Vietnam attaches great importance to the traditional good-neighborly friendship and all-round cooperation between the two countries and will continue to work to promote them, they said.

The message, also addressed to Wu Bangguo and Wen Jiabao, was co-signed by Phan Van Khai and Nguyen Van An.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also sent a congratulatory message Tuesday to his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Dy Nien.

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2005)