Beijing: China has signed a key pact with Vietnam to end their maritime disputes and set up a hotline for "proper communication" on the issue, amid a row over Hanoi's offer to foreign countries like India to explore oil and gas in the resource-rich South China Sea.
"The China-Vietnam agreement is a positive step in the process of negotiating maritime issues...it will provide important guidelines for the two countries to resolve maritime issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at his daily press briefing on Wednesday.
Liu's comments a day after China and Vietnam signed a six-point agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of existing maritime issues between the two countries.
The agreement follows "candid" talks between Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in Beijing on Tuesday.
The Hu-Trong meeting took place in Beijing as Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang arrived in New Delhi on a state visit during which India and Vietnam inked an agreement to promote oil exploration in South China Sea along with a slew of pacts, including an extradition treaty, to deepen trade, security and strategic ties between the two countries.
Hu, also Chinese President, said both sides should not take any action that may magnify or complicate the disputes, but instead deal with problems in a calm and constructive fashion and avoid affecting their relationship, as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea.
China is Vietnam's largest trading partner but the Communist neighbours have a long-standing dispute over sovereignty of the Paracel and Spratly island groups, which straddle vital commercial shipping lanes.
The two countries should remain committed to friendly consultations in order to properly handle maritime issues and make the South China Sea a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the Sino-Vietnamese agreement as saying.
Both sides agreed to set up a hotline mechanism in order to allow them to promptly communicate and properly deal with maritime issues, the agreement said.
Beijing-Hanoi ties sank to their lowest point in years in mid-2011 when Vietnam said Chinese vessels twice interfered with its oil survey ships inside its exclusive economic zone.
But the Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu said the agreement also showed that the two countries have the capability and determination to settle maritime disputes through talks.
"The agreement reflects the common political willingness of both sides to properly handle and resolve maritime issues," Liu said. "China will work with Vietnam to earnestly implement the agreement."
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