China, Vietnam finish border demarcation

China, Vietnam finish border demarcationBeijing  - China and Vietnam have finished demarcation of their long-disputed land border, in a move of "historical significance" that the two sides hope will lead to greater economic and trade links, state media said on Thursday.

The year-long demarcation was completed shortly before a midnight Wednesday deadline, following eight years of surveys and negotiations, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei and his Vietnamese counterpart Vu Dung reached an agreement on the remaining issues related to the border survey during talks on Wednesday in Vietnam, the agency said.

"The completion of the land border demarcation along the entire length of China-Vietnam land border is a major event of historical significance in their relations," the two sides said in a joint statement issued after the talks.

"It will bring new opportunities to the respective development of each country and is of particular importance to create conditions for border provinces in the two countries to expand cooperation, develop economy and strengthen friendly exchanges," the agency quoted the statement as saying.

The two nations have erected 2,333 markers along the border over the past year after removing more than 500,000 landmines since the early 1990s, it said.

They fought a brief but violent border war in 1979 and diplomatic ties were interrupted until 1991.

Armed skirmishes have broken out between them as recently as 1988, when they fought a brief naval battle over the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, whose surrounding waters might contain substantial oil deposits.

But economic and diplomatic ties have gradually improved over the last decade between the communist-ruled neighbours.

Bilateral trade increased to more than 15 billion dollars in 2007 and was expected to hit 21 billion dollars in 2008. (dpa)

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