BEIJING (AFP) — China and Vietnam have established a hotline between their heads of state, state media reported, in the latest sign of warming relations between the former rival communist countries.
Vietnam's Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh concluded a four-day visit to China on Monday, during which the hotline deal was finalised, Xinhua news agency reported.
During the visit, the two countries also pledged closer cooperation on security, economic and education matters, Xinhua said in its report late Sunday.
The two countries, historical enemies which fought a brief war in 1979 and only normalised ties in 1991, have gradually been putting territorial disputes behind them.
China is now one of Vietnam's main trading partners. In the statement, both countries praised each other's efforts to reform and open up their economies, Xinhua said.
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