The two sides decided to use the areas of agreement reached by the two countries’ leaders as the guiding principles in any negotiations regarding the issue.

These areas of agreement are contained in the Vietnam-China Joint Statements, issued during Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visits to China in 2008. They state the necessity of further speeding up negotiations regarding the demarcation of the waters off the Tonkin Gulf , cooperating effectively towards mutual development, and carrying out a joint survey of the area as soon as possible.

The Vietnamese and Chinese officials focused on discussions relating to the joint survey, with the aim of supporting the demarcation scheme and promoting cooperation for mutual development in the waters off the Tonkin Gulf .

They agreed that the sixth round of talks would take place in China at an appropriate time in 2009.

Vietnam, China discuss water demarcation off Tonkin Gulf