NANNING — China and Vietnam on Aug 23 vowed to make their border areas peaceful and friendly for cooperation and common development.

The pledge came as State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, together with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, attended events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the demarcation of the land boundary and the 10th anniversary of the erection of boundary markers.

Wang said since the normalization of bilateral ties, China and Vietnam have been committed to settling land boundary issues via dialogue and consultation, hailing the border areas as an important bond and bridge of cooperation for promoting the two countries' common development.

Wang called on the two sides to make the China-Vietnam boundary better serve the two countries' development and people's well-being, shore up border governance system and capacity, promote regional cooperation via the border areas, and draw on the successful practice in solving land boundary issues to seek an early settlement of maritime disputes.

"China is ready to work closely with Vietnam to make the land boundary a peaceful and friendly one for cooperation, common development and prosperity," Wang added.

During their talks, Wang said China and Vietnam were first among world countries to have successfully contained COVID-19 and restored economic and social development, demonstrating their institutional advantages and cooperation achievements.

China-Vietnam relations will become more robust after weathering the test of the pandemic, he said.

For his part, Pham Binh Minh said the Vietnamese side is committed to upholding the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and expressed the willingness to further advance bilateral ties.

The two foreign ministers examined the boundary stones between China and Vietnam and traced in red ink over characters printed on their respective first boundary stones.