China and Vietnam agreed Thursday to properly deal with the maritime territorial issues in the South China Sea.

China and Vietnam agreed Thursday to properly deal with the maritime territorial issues in the South China Sea. [Xinhua]

This is one of the five consensus decisions made at the fourth meeting of the China-Vietnam steering committee on cooperation, which was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

China and Vietnam signed a package of agreements on the demarcation of their 1,300-kilometer land boundary last November. During the signing ceremony, the two nations agreed to begin discussions to formulate the guidelines to solve the sea issues.

Khiem reaffirmed Thursday that Vietnam was willing to work with China to properly handle the sea issues in light of the overall situation of bilateral relations and the friendship between the two peoples, as well as the need to maintain stability.