Economic and trade relation between Vietnam and China has seen significant development with the two way trade volume standing at 1.345 billion US dollars in the first seven months of 2000, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said in Hanoi Thursday.

At a press conference, Thanh said that the two countries are striving hard to increase the two way trade to two billion US dollars this year.

So far, she said, China including Hong Kong has had 375 investment projects with a total investment volume of 3.35 billion US dollars.

Concerning Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's upcoming working visit to China, the spokeswoman said that the main purpose of the visit is to review trade and economic cooperation between the two countries during the past year since the official visit to Vietnam by Chinese Prime Minister in December 1999; discuss directions and measures to further promote bilateral trade and economic relations in the coming time.

While answering a question on Vietnam's reaction to the fact that the US Senate has approved the permanent normal trading relation (PNTR) status for China, Thanh said that the US Senate has made a right decision.

This serves the interests of both the United State and China, she noted, adding that Vietnam hopes that China and the United States as two big economies will contribute more positively to the world economy as well as to peace, stability and development in the region and the world over.

(People’s Daily 09/21/2000)