Related reading:

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on China and Vietnam to solve the South China Sea issue through bilateral consultations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping(R) meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

Xi made the remarks during a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, saying that the common interests between the two countries far outweigh the differences.

He said China and Vietnam can manage their differences and promote maritime cooperation through friendly consultations.

Both sides should use the current negotiation mechanisms, such as border talks between governments, to actively push forward joint exploration of waters outside the Beibu Gulf, Xi said.

He called on the two countries to achieve substantial progress on the joint development of a wider area of the South China Sea at an early date and transform maritime challenges into opportunities for cooperation.

Phuc said his country is willing to work with China to enhance political trust, promote pragmatic cooperation, and properly manage and control differences.

At the beginning of the meeting, Xi welcomed Phuc to China, who is visiting for the first time since he was elected prime minister in July during the first session of the 14th National Assembly of Vietnam.

It is also the first high-level visit to Beijing by Vietnamese leaders since the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam held in January.

Vietnam regards its ties with China as the country's foreign policy priority, Phuc said.

"It is in our greatest common strategic interests that China and Vietnam adhere to Communist Party leadership and socialist system," Xi said.

Xi called on the two sides to coordinate more, hold high-level visits, promote strategic integration, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and enhance people-to-people exchanges.

At present, China-Vietnam relations are sound, Xi said, expressing his hope that both sides will promote the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and bring tangible benefits to the people of both countries.

Xi called for joint efforts to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of China and Vietnam, as well as the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of Vietnam.

High-level strategic communication is expected to guide the direction of bilateral ties and both countries should promote cooperation in various fields in the spirit of mutual benefit and win-win results, Xi said.

Xi urged the two sides to make full use of the meeting of the China-Vietnam steering committee on cooperation, push forward cooperation within the framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan to cooperate more in industrial capacity, infrastructure construction and cross-border economic cooperation zones.

The president suggested the two sides bring more real benefits to their people and consolidate public opinion and the social foundation for bilateral friendship.

As friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, it is in accordance with the fundamental and long-term interests for China and Vietnam to develop bilateral friendship, Phuc said.

Vietnam always remembers China's huge support to its cause of national liberation and construction, Phuc said.

Phuc is on an official visit to China from Sept. 10 to 15.