President Hu Jintao on Friday thanked visiting Vietnamese party chief Nong Duc Manh for his donations to China's quake victims, saying he was deeply moved by Manh's sincerity.

Some of the tents, food and medicines were scheduled to arrive in Gansu Province on Friday night.

Earlier this week, Manh and staff members of the party's organizations and the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry donated a day's worth of their salaries to disaster victims in China and Myanmar. The Red Cross Society of Vietnam is also mobilizing the nation to donate to China's quake victims.

In addition, Vietnam announced on May 15 it would provide US$200,000 in cash for China's quake-affected areas. It has also expressed interest in dispatching medical teams to Sichuan province.

"We are deeply moved (by the sympathy and help from Vietnam). On behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese government and people, I would like to extend gratitude to the CPV, the Vietnamese government and people," Hu, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said.

Manh again expressed condolences to the quake victims and said he believed "the brotherly Chinese people will overcome difficulties posed by the disaster and rebuild their homes soon".

On bilateral relations, Manh called on the two sides to advance work on demarcating the countries' land border to finish the task within the year.

The leaders also discussed inter-party cooperation, investment and youth exchange programs.

After the two-hour meeting, the two sides signed an agreement on plant protection and quarantine, and two others on business collaboration.

Manh arrived in Beijing on Friday for a four-day visit.

China is Vietnam's top trading partner, with a bilateral trading volume of more than US$15 billion last year.

(China Daily May 31, 2008)