Vietnam, China discuss Tonkin Gulf, sea issues

The two sides agreed to seriously pursue the common aim of Vietnamese and Chinese high-ranking leaders to strengthen talks on the delimitation of the sea area off the gulf and potential means of further co-operation for mutual development there.

The fifth round of negotiations on co-operation in less sensitive sea issues between Vietnam and China took place in Hanoi at the same time.

The two sides reached an agreement on a plan to implement two co-operative projects. One covers joint research on the management of the marine and island environment in the Gulf of Tonkin and the other will conduct a comparative study on sediment dating back to the Holocene epoch in the Red River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta.

They continued their discussion on a draft agreement relating to maritime search and rescue co-operation with a view to signing and initiating it in 2014.

The two sides agreed that the sixth round of expert-level negotiations on the zone off the Tonkin Gulf will be held in the second half of this year, while the other on co-operation on less sensitive issues at sea has been scheduled for May in China.

(Source: Nhandan Newspaper Online)