Home | China | World | Business Jiang: Common Prosperity Is Correct Choice of China, Vietnam THU, FEB 28, 2002     General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and Chinese President Jiang Zemin said in Hanoi Thursday that it is a correct choice for China and Vietnam to cement solidarity, promote mutual trust and friendship and expand cooperation to seek common development and prosperity. Addressing teachers and students at Hanoi National University, Jiang said that recalling the history of the two countries and parties, it has been proven that the choice conforms with the fundamental interests of the two neighbors and their people, who have shared a common cause and interests. In his speech entitled "Jointly Create a Bright Future for China-Vietnam Relations," Jiang, who arrived in Hanoi Wednesday for a three-day official visit, spoke highly of the development of bilateral ties. "A close neighbor can be more helpful than a relative living far away," Jiang said by citing a Chinese saying. "China and Vietnam are adjacent to each other, just as a song known both to the Chinese and Vietnamese people reads, 'Vietnam-China, mountains are connected with mountains, and rivers are linked with rivers ...'" Having a similar history, both nations suffered from imperialist aggression and oppression and waged protracted bloody struggles for national independence and liberation, he said. The two peoples have not only enjoyed a long-standing traditional friendship, but also fostered comradeship by standing side by side and giving each other sympathy and support in the course of their socialist revolution and construction, Jiang told his audience. We are "brotherly states" and "comrades plus brothers," Jiang cited Vietnam's late Chairman Ho Chi Minh as saying. He said the friendship, nurtured by late Chinese leader Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh, has grown in all aspects and is cherished by the parties and peoples of the two countries. Although bilateral relations experienced some setbacks, the two peoples have always shown friendly sentiments toward each other. In November 1991, acting in accordance with the development of the international situation and the common wish and basic interests of the two peoples, the leaders of the two countries realized the normalization of bilateral relations. Reality has evidenced that the choice by the leaders was correct and timely, Jiang said in his speech. During the past decade and more, bilateral cooperative ties have seen great progress, and cooperation and exchanges in all fields have been increasingly strengthened, Jiang said. He said the volume of two-way trade has jumped from 30 million U.S. dollars to 3 billion dollars in just a few years, and joint construction projects have brought or will bring huge benefits to the two countries and their people. Frequent high-level reciprocal visits, candid and profound exchanges of views on internal, international and major issues concerning bilateral ties have prompted the development of relations and just and reasonable settlement of problems left overby history, including border dispute, the Chinese leader said. Jiang said the two sides formulated the principles guiding the development of their relations in the new century in February 1999. The principles aim at achieving long-term stability, good-neighborliness and friendship and all-round cooperation and are future oriented. "Three months ago, (Vietnamese) General Secretary Nong Duc Manh successfully visited China, and I held fruitful talks Wednesday with General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and President Tran Duc Luong," Jiang said. He said that the two countries agreed to push their traditional friendship to a new high in the new century. To this end, Jiang said, the two neighbors must stick to the mentioned principles, as they are worked out after summing up historical experiences and represent the direction of the development of bilateral relations. Editor:Hope CCTV.com Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved