Hu met General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee Nong Duc Manh and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet after a welcome ceremony.

The Chinese president called for joint efforts to elevate economic partnership to a new level. China and Viet Nam, both members of the World Trade Organization, should push the development of a multilateral trading system, he said.

They should also speed up negotiations on services, trade and investment for the proposed China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA), said Hu.

Viet Nam is a member of the Southeast Asian economic bloc, which has agreed to set up an FTA with China by 2010.

The two sides should speed up the land demarcation process, strengthen co-operation in the Beibu Bay region and push the joint development of the South China Sea, said Hu.

Officials from both sides recently agreed to accelerate the installation of border markers under an agreement signed last year on completing the demarcation of the 1,350-kilometre border by 2008. The two sides still have territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Hu said that the objectives should be realized in accordance with the principle of "being fair and rational, and making mutual accommodation."

Manh said that the two countries should "properly resolve the border and territorial disputes through friendly consultation."

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