Vietnamese Communist Party leader Nong Duc Manh on Thursday appealed to enhance regional cooperation between Vietnam and China, especially to further economic and trade ties.

Nong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, made the appeal while meeting with Li Keqiang, secretary of the Liaoning provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Dalian, a coastal and industrial city in Liaoning.

Nong appreciated Liaoning's social and economic achievements, saying it's important to boost cooperation between Vietnamese and Chinese different regions and in various fields.

He pledged to promote cooperation with Liaoning, an industrial base in northeast China, in a bid to implement consensus reached by he himself and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao during meeting in Beijing on Tuesday.

Li hailed the growth of trade and economic relation between Liaoning and Vietnam, saying Liaoning will promote cooperation in such fields as factory equipment manufacture, agriculture and agricultural products processing and in science and technology sectors.

Nong arrived in Dalian on Thursday morning after his two-day stay in Beijing.

In Dalian, he visited the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd., one of China's leading boatyard, Dalian Machine Tool Group Cooperation, a leading factory equipment maker and a residential community.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2006)