Chinese, Vietnamese companies deals worth more than $2 bln

Chinese and Vietnamese companies signed nine deals worth more than two billion U.S. dollars at the China-Vietnam Business Forum in Beijing on Friday.

Among the deals, the China Merchants Group signed a letter of intent on investment in Ho Chi Minh City, with a contract value of about one billion U.S. dollars.

The China Huadian Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding on power generation, which was worth 650 million U.S. dollars. The China Airport Construction Group Corporation signed a 400-million-U.S.-dollar deal on highway construction.

Other deals include cement production, real estate and communications.

China has more than 400 investment projects in Vietnam, with a total value of more than 800 million U.S. dollars. Trade volume between the two countries in 2006 reached 9.95 billion U.S. dollars.

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a keynote speech.

Nguyen said China was the major market and trading partner of Vietnam. The two countries shared broad prospects of cooperation in economy and trade.

He encouraged businesses of both countries to take the initiative and put cooperation intent into practice as soon as possible.

The Vietnamese government and the Communist Party would continue to provide favorable conditions and policies for cooperation, Nguyen said.

The forum -- co-sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam -- attracted more than 500 Chinese and Vietnamese businesses.