Chinese President Jiang Zemin met in Shanghai Friday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, who is in Shanghai to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting due to open Saturday.

Phan thanked Jiang for inviting him to attend the meeting and for the warm hospitality he has received.

He conveyed to Jiang the kind regards and best wishes from General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nong Duc Manh and Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong while congratulating China on hosting the APEC meetings in the first year of the new century.

Phan said he was happy with the fresh and positive development in the bilateral relations and hoped the bilateral relations will continue to develop.

Jiang was satisfied with the positive development in the Sino- Vietnamese relations, saying it is a set policy of the CPC and the Chinese government to strengthen neighborly friendship and the overall cooperation with Vietnam.

China will, together with the Vietnamese side, take active measures to expand and enhance bilateral cooperation, in line with the principle of " long-term stability, looking to the future, neighborly friendship and all-round cooperation" and the direction set forth in the joint statement concerning bilateral cooperation in the new century, Jiang stressed.

Jiang said he was happy with the social stability and economic progress in Vietnam after the ninth CPV national congress, citing an old Chinese saying "Relatives Hoping Their Relatives to Live Better, and So Do Neighbors".

(Xinhua News Agency 10/19/2001)