Timeline of Sino-Vietnamese relations

January 18, 1950: China and Viet Nam established diplomatic ties and the Chinese Government and people rendered full support to the country's long-term revolutionary struggle against France and the United States.

In late 1970s: Relations deteriorated.

November 1991: The two countries agreed to put the past behind them and look to the future as party and state relations were normalized.

February 1999: The general secretaries of the two parties set "long-standing stability, facing the future, neighbourliness and friendship, all-round co-operation" as the framework guiding bilateral ties in the new century.

December 30, 1999: The two countries officially signed the treaty on the land boundary in Hanoi.

July 6, 2000: The two sides exchanged the treaty's instruments of ratification in Beijing, and the Treaty on the Land Boundary officially came into force.

December 25-29, 2000: Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong visited China and the two countries issue the Joint Statement on all-round co-operation in the new century, drawing up a concrete programme for the development of friendly relations and co-operation.

In Beijing the two countries officially signed the Agreement on the Demarcation of the Beibu Gulf Territorial Waters, Exclusive Economic Zones and Continental Shelf, and Agreement on Fishing Cooperation in the Beibu Gulf.

Feb 17-Mar 1, 2002: President Jiang Zemin paid an official goodwill visit to Viet Nam and had an in-depth exchange of views with his Vietnamese counterpart.

April 7-11, 2003: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party Nong Dac Manh paid a working visit to China.

July 18-22, 2005: Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong paid a state visit to China and the two countries issued a joint statement, agreeing to work together to promote joint exploration in the South China Sea.

October 31-November 2, 2005: President Hu Jintao paid an official goodwill visit to Viet Nam and the two countries signed a joint statement, making the pledge to reach the goal of bilateral trade volume at US$10 billion by 2010. The two countries also agreed to take further steps to settle disputed borders to ensure that the demarcation and planting of markers on the entire common borderline, and signing of a new document to manage the borderline, will be completed by 2008.

August 22-26, 2006: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party Nong Dac Manh paid an official goodwill visit to China and the two countries signed a joint communiqu, vowing to accelerate oil and gas exploration in border waters of the Beibu Gulf.

November 15-17, 2006: President Hu Jintao pays a state visit to Viet Nam.

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