A Vietnam-China working group on waters outside the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin held its 11th round of negotiations while the other on sea development cooperation held its eighth round of talks in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, Vietnam, on April 24-25.

Vietnamese, Chinese coast guards inspect a Vietnamese
fishing vessel in the Gulf of Tonkin (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnamese delegation to these events comprised of Director of the Foreign Ministry’s National Boundary Commission Nguyen Dang Thang while the Chinese delegation was led by Zhou Jian, representative for border and sea affairs at the Chinese Foreign Ministry. 

In the friendly, sincere, frank and constructive atmosphere, they discussed work of the two working groups and vowed to seriously follow common perceptions of the two countries’ leaders, including the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of issues at sea signed in 2011 and directions by the government-ranking delegation of negotiators on Vietnam – China boundary issues. 

Both sides agreed to maintain the set roadmap and step up talks on the demarcation of waters beyond the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin, discussed cooperation for mutual development in the East Sea in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to which they are members. 

They agreed that the 12th round of negotiations of the Working Group on waters beyond the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin and the ninth round of negotiations of the working group on cooperation in sea development will be held in China at the end of 2019.