The land border between China and Vietnam measures about 14,000 kilometers. And the final demarcation of these land borders took decades of efforts from both sides. In 1991, the then Vietnamese leader Do Muoi paid an official visit to Beijing, to normalize bilateral ties.

During his visit, both sides reached a consensuses to start border negotiations as soon as possible. The two countries set up delegations to negotiate on the issue the following year.  The negotiation lasted for about 8 years until the end of 1999, when the two sides finally signed a land border treaty, mapping out the initial layout of the land borders.

The actual measurement and survey took another 10 years. During this period, the two sides held 14 government delegation meetings, as well as many other small meetings, and planted about 2000 boundary markers.

In November of 2009, the two nations signed three key legal documents on their border in Beijing, marking the final settlement after over 10 years of negotiation. The documents came into effect the following year.