Hanoi (VNA) – The upcoming visit to China by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nong Duc Manh is expected to foster the Vietnam-China friendship and comprehensive cooperation which have made considerable progress in recent years.

The visit will be made by the Party leader from May 30-June 2 at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao.

Since the two countries normalised diplomatic ties in 1991, Vietnam and China have signed 54 State-level agreements and 59 cooperation documents, creating a legal foundation for long-term cooperation.

Annual visits by more than 100 delegations at all levels of both countries have also helped strengthen and diversify bilateral ties.

In 1993, Vietnam and China inked an agreement on basic principles to solve issues relating to their common border and territory. Six years later, the two countries signed a land border treaty and agreed to speed up and complete border demarcation and landmark planting by June 2008.

The two sides signed agreements on demarcation and fishing cooperation in the Bac Bo (Tonkin) Gulf in 2000, and a protocol supplementing the fishing cooperation agreement in the Tonkin Gulf in 2004.

During a visit to China by President Tran Duc Luong in December 2000, the two sides signed a joint declaration on comprehensive cooperation for the new century, turning the motto “friendly neighbourliness, comprehensive cooperation, long-lasting stability, and looking towards the future” into measures to develop relations in all fields.

The two countries also agreed to become “good neighbours, good friends, good comrades and good partners”.

The Vietnam-China economic ties have been considerably developed with China becoming Vietnam’s “number one” partner with two-way trade turnover reaching 15 billion USD in 2007, a year-on-year increase of 44 percent.

During a visit to Vietnam by Chinese President Hu Jintao in November 2006, the two sides agreed to improve trade structure and ensure equal and sustainable development of two-way trade, as well as boost bilateral cooperation in infrastructure construction, manufacturing, human resources development, energy and minerals processing.

With a cooperation agreement on developing “two corridors, one economic belt”, the two countries have focused on investing in projects such as upgrading and building railways, highway, ports and border economic zones to bolster economic cooperation between northern provinces of Vietnam with China ’s Guangxi province.

By late 2006, China ranked 15 th among 74 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with a total registered investment capital of more than 843 million USD.

The 399 Chinese projects currently operating in Vietnam have helped generate jobs for more than 53,000 local workers and brought in a total revenue of more than 1 billion USD.

In education, the Chinese government annually grants 130 scholarships to Vietnamese students. Around 20 universities of Vietnam have established ties with 40 universities and academies of China . In the year 2006 alone, an estimated 10,000 Vietnamese students pursued education in China .

The two countries have also inked scientific and technological cooperation deals on agriculture and have boosted cooperation in research to effectively utilise natural resources.