State Councillor Yang Jiechi's Hanoi visit paves way to reset ties with Vietnam

Beijing's top diplomat returned to Hanoi for the second time in four months yesterday as China and Vietnam sought to reset ties following a dispute over an oil rig.

The one-day visit by State Councillor Yang Jiechi is seen as a move to prepare for next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Beijing, which Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang is expected to attend.

Yang was in Hanoi for the seventh meeting of the Vietnam-China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation, a supposedly annual event for the two countries to discuss cooperation.

During the meeting, Yang told Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, who headed the Vietnamese delegation, that relations had resumed "step by step", according to the Vietnamese foreign ministry.

"The two sides should … properly handle and control maritime disagreements, creating a favourable environment for bilateral cooperation," the ministry quoted him as saying.

The neighbours agreed to resolve maritime territorial disputes "in an appropriate manner" and promote negotiation mechanisms, the Chinese foreign ministry said on its website.

Relations between the communist allies nosedived in May after China deployed an oil rig in waters off Vietnam's coast claimed by both countries.