China, Vietnam ink agreement on fishery hotline

The agreement was detailed in an eight-clause joint statement released on Friday, the final day of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang's China visit, during which he held a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The neighboring countries will properly handle emergent fishery incidents so as to maintain bilateral friendly relations, the statement said.

The two sides will continue to implement the Beibu Gulf Fishery Cooperation Agreement, which was signed on Dec. 25, 2000 and went into effect on June 30, 2004, as well as actively explore new joint inspection methods for shared fishery districts.

On maritime issues, China and Vietnam agreed to communicate frequently in order to properly solve maritime disputes, proceeding from the overall interest of bilateral ties.

Both sides will implement the bilateral Agreement on Basic Principles Guiding the Settlement of Maritime Issues, make full use of their boundary discussion mechanism and carry out discussions that can result in basic and permanent solutions accepted by both sides, according to the statement.

They should also explore transitional solutions without involving their respective positions and requests, it said.

China and Vietnam have agreed to advance negotiations between their working groups concerning waters outside the mouth of the Beibu Bay, steadily push forward negotiations on the demarcation of the waters and promote common development in the area.

The countries also agreed to extend agreements signed by companies from both side on exploration in agreed areas.

The frequency of their negotiations in low-sensitivity areas will now be increased and cooperation in marine environmental protection, scientific research, rescue work, disaster prevention and relief, as well as interconnection and mutual communication will continue.

The statement calls for both sides to remain calm and avoid actions that could complicate or escalate a dispute. They also agreed to make good use of the crisis management hotlines of their foreign affairs ministries and take a constructive attitude to problems, so to safeguard overall interests of Sino-Vietnamese relations and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.

China and Vietnam pledged to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in order to safeguard peace and stability in the region, the statement said.

Both sides agreed to maintain high-level engagement and strengthen strategic communication through exchange of visits, hotlines and multilateral meetings.

They said they would maintain military-to-military relations, and make full use of the defense security consultation mechanism and hotline between defense ministries so as to increase mutual trust.

According to the statement, both sides will carry out the border cooperation agreement and continue to carry out joint patrols along the land frontier.

It added that the Chinese and Vietnamese navies will carry out two joint patrols of the Beibu Gulf within the year.

This agreement also concerns law-enforcement and security cooperation, with pledges to start negotiations on a bilateral extradition treaty in the latter half of the year.

The two countries agreed to promote the common development of border areas, the statement said, hailing the newly-established committee on border management and cooperation during Truong's visit.

They reached a consensus on advancing the opening and upgrading of border ports, stepping up ports' infrastructure building and improving the efficiency of the ports' traffic.

On the economic front, both nations will advance cooperation in agriculture, fishery, transportation, energy, mining, manufacturing and other fields, as well as expand trade and promote financial cooperation, the statement said.

It continued that China and Vietnam have agreed to promote the balanced growth of trade and strive to attain the goal of a 60-billion U.S. dollar trade volume before 2015.

They pledged to advance cultural exchanges and cooperation, agreeing to hold the second Chinese-Vietnamese youth gathering in China later this year.

Under the new agreement, science and technology cooperation will be deepened, encouraging more joint research and development in agriculture, information communication, new energy, environmental protection, water resources management, utilization and protection.