In the afternoon of the same day, an official ceremony to welcome General Secretary Trong and his entourage was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing under the Chair of General Secretary and President Hu.

After the ceremony, General Secretary Trong and General Secretary and President Hu held high-level talks, also at the Great Hall of the People.

General Secretary and President Hu affirmed that the visit is of significance in boosting mutual understanding and cooperation for mutual benefit between the two Parties and nations, as well as for friendship between the Vietnamese and Chinese people.

General Secretary Trong expressed his delight at visiting China and thanked General Secretary and President Hu for his warm, high-esteem welcome.

The Vietnamese Party leader expressed his firm belief that under the sound leadership of the Chinese Party and Government, the Chinese people would obtain greater achievements, comprehensively building a prosperous and harmonious socialist society.

He highly valued China ’s position in the active process of boosting peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

General Secretary Trong reaffirmed his support for the consistent implementation of the “One China” policy and the great cause of unification of China .

The two leaders expressed their pleasure at the rapid and comprehensive development of Viet Nam-China relations in every field over the past 20 years since the two countries normalised relations.

The two sides highlighted mutual respect, understanding and trust as well as cooperation and abiding by basic principles elements of the UN Charter and international law, considering them as important foundations for the two countries’ relations to develop in a stable and healthy manner.

They affirmed that the Viet Nam-China friendship is the precious property of the two Parties, nations and peoples and needs to be constantly developed and transferred to future generations.

The two leaders agreed that bilateral relations have still seen some divergences on the East Sea issue and the two countries had exerted efforts to avoid making the situation more complex, with settlement through peaceful talks from the strategic height of the two countries’ relations and for the benefit of the two peoples.

They also affirmed the importance of common perceptions at the strategic level to the development of the two countries and to the world socialist cause. From the strategic height and the overall vision, Viet Nam and China continued the motto of “Friendly neighboursliness, comprehensive cooperation, long-lasting stability, looking toward the future” and in the spirit of “Good neighbours, good friends, good comrades, good partners”, boosting friendship exchanges and expanding cooperation for mutual benefit between the two countries in every field, to constantly develop the Viet Nam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in a stable, healthy and long-lasting way.

They also shared the same view to regularly supplement and develop common perceptions to guide bilateral relations.

The two sides agreed to apply effective and practical measures to comprehensively expand and deepen friendship and cooperation in all fields between the two countries.

The two leaders informed each other about the situation of each Party and country and shared the joy that Viet Nam and China , are on the path of socialism under the leadership of the Communist Party and successfully implementing national renewal and open-door policies, which are praised by the world.

The two countries have many new opportunities to develop, but face many challenges, especially fierce sabotage by hostile forces.

They reached consensus on boosting coordination and regular exchange of information between the two countries through organisations, regional and international forums like the UN, WTO, APEC, ASEM, ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, EAS, ARF to contribute to boosting peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Earlier, General Secretary Trong and General Secretary and President Hu held retreat talks at the Great Hall of the People.

They reviewed 60 years of the development of relations between the two Parties and nations, affirming the achievements over the past 20 years of normalisation of relations between the two countries as important factors to ensure stable development of each Party and country as well as for peace, cooperation and development in the region and for the cause of socialism in the world.

They agreed that it is necessary to engage in practical actions to strengthen mutual trust and boost the Viet Nam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership for the success of socialism in the world.

On outstanding and newly arising matters in bilateral relations, the two leaders agreed that the two countries need to solve them patiently from the strategic height for the benefit of the two people, in line with international law, the Viet Nam-China neighbourliness and traditional friendship and to not let them affect the stable development of the two countries’ relations.

Regarding the East Sea issue, the two leaders agreed that this is not an overall issue of the Viet Nam-China relationship but a sensitive and complicated issue for the two Parties and States as it relates to the national sovereignty of both countries.

However, the issue can be completely solved. If the two sides look at it from a strategic perspective, taking into account the interests of the two countries’ people and on the basis of international law, they can find a satisfactory and reasonable solution that meets the aspirations of the two countries’ people, especially when the two countries had experience in addressing such similarly sensitive and complex issues such as the land border demarcation and marker planting, and the demarcation of the Tonkin Gulf.

On the same day, General Secretary Trong met with Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress.

The two sides spoke highly of the effective and in-depth cooperation between the two countries’ parliaments and people-elected agencies, especially in completing the leadership mode of the Party and building a law-governed socialist State.

They agreed that cooperation between the two countries’ legislative bodies should be further strengthened in different forms in order to boost mutual understanding, information and experience exchanges.

The two Governments should actively implement signed agreements as well as strengthen coordination and mutual support at regional and international inter-parliamentary forums.

After the talks and meeting, the Vietnamese and Chinese Party leaders witnessed the signing of important cooperation documents between the two countries, including a cooperation plan between the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the Communist Party of China for the 2011-2015 period and a five-year development plan on economic and trade cooperation between the two governments for the 2012-2016 period.

A cooperation agreement between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and the Chinese Ministry of Education for the 2011-2015 period, and protocols between the Governments of Viet Nam and China on amendments to and implementation of the Road Transport Agreement between the two Governments were also inked, along with an agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues between Viet Nam and China.

On the evening of October 11, Party General Secretary and State President Hu Jintao hosted a banquet in honour of Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his entourage./.