The Vietnamese delegation was led by Phung The Long, Vice Chairman of the National Boundary Commission under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while the Chinese side was led by Hong Liang, Director of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs under the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Both sides compared notes on the two working groups’ activities in  a friendly, straightforward and constructive manner and affirmed the serious adherence to the common perceptions reached by the countries’ leaders, including the 2011 agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues and directions given by the heads of the governmental-level negotiation delegations for border and territorial affairs.

They shared the view that on the basis of the agreed road map and international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both Vietnam and China are parties, the two countries will redouble efforts to speed up negotiations on the delimitation of the sea area beyond the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin and cooperation for mutual development in the East Sea.

Both sides also consented to organise the next rounds of negotiations of the two working groups in Vietnam soon.

During his stay in Beijing, head of the Vietnamese delegation Phung The Long paid a courtesy visit to Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui.