Vietnam, China hold talks on sea cooperation

The Vietnamese delegation at the event was led by Nguyen Anh Dung, Vice Chairman of the National Border Committee under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the Chinese delegation was headed by Zhou Jian, the representative for boundary and ocean affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two sides discussed various issues related to the working group on the sea area off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin and cooperation for sea development between Vietnam and China. They also affirmed to seriously follow the common perceptions agreed upon by the two countries’ senior leaders, including the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues, while promoting the negotiations on the demarcation of the waters outside the Gulf of Tonkin and cooperation for mutual development on the seaaccording to international laws, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of which both Vietnam and China are members. Vietnam and China also agreed to promptly organise the 10th round of negotiations of the working group on the sea area beyond the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin and the seventh round of negotiations of the working group on sea development cooperation in China. At the end of the talks, the two sides signed the meeting’s minutes.