China and Vietnam have agreed to seek a long-term resolution to a territorial dispute in the South China Sea that has stoked tensions between the two countries.
A six-point agreement, signed on Tuesday by Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun and his Vietnamese counterpart, Ho Xuan Son, and posted on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website yesterday, said it was in accordance with a consensus reached by the countries' leaders and based on a 1993 agreement on basic principles for resolving bilateral territorial and border disputes.
The two countries should remain committed to friendly consultations in order to properly handle maritime issues and make the South China Sea an area of peace, friendship and co-operation, the agreement said.
The agreement was signed during a visit to China by the general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, for conciliatory talks with President Hu Jintao, who is also Communist Party chief.
China and Vietnam - as well as the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan - have staked sovereignty claims over parts of the sea.
Under the agreement, the two sides consented to set up a hotline to deal with potential maritime conflicts and hold border talks twice a year, with special meetings taking place when necessary.
'Both sides agreed to set up a hotline contact mechanism in order to allow them to promptly communicate and properly deal with maritime issues,' it said.
