Sawt Falasteen - Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions

China is Vietnam's biggest trade partner, but the two countries share historic tensions including in the South China Sea, a waterway through which trillions of dollars of trade pass each year.

Beijing has for years sought to expand its presence in contested areas of the sea, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the waterway has no legal basis.

Last week Hanoi protested a "brutal" attack by Chinese vessels, in which it said 10 Vietnamese fishermen were beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang "exchanged sincere and frank opinions on maritime issues" at a meeting in Hanoi, Vietnamese state media said.

"They committed to adequately controlling differences... avoiding actions that complicate the situation, and jointly maintaining stability at sea," the Bao Chinh Phu newspaper said.

The two countries also signed 10 agreements on Sunday, including on expanding cross-border railway links, payments and economic cooperation.

They agreed to work on a technical plan for a rail link between Lao Cai in northern Vietnam and Hekou in China's Yunnan province.

They also signed a memorandum of understanding on the implementation of cross-border payment services via QR codes and an agreement to study a model for an "economic cooperation zone" across their border.

Vietnam's top leader To Lam and Li agreed on Saturday to boost defence and economic cooperation, Vietnamese state media reported.

Hanoi would facilitate more high-tech Chinese investment in Vietnam and Beijing would strengthen market access for Vietnamese agricultural products, the Nhan Dan newspaper said.

At Saturday's meeting, Lam "urged both parties to... better manage and resolve differences" in maritime issues, the newspaper said.

Lam took office in early August as general secretary following the death of his predecessor, Nguyen Phu Trong.

He later met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing during his first overseas trip.

G.AbuGhazaleh--SF-PST