Manh, who began a five-day visit of China, made the remark to Chinese President and Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao, it said early Tuesday.

"Regardless of the result, the ongoing war in Iraq will exert a negative impact on international relations and further destabilize the world economic prospect," Manh was quoted as saying.

"Vietnam has always maintained a peaceful solution to international conflicts and will work for regional peace, stability and development," Manh said.

Xinhua did not give details of Hu's statement on the Iraq war beyond saying he set out China's "consistent stance" on the issue.

China has stuck to calling for a peaceful settlement of the dispute.

Hu also told Manh of China's stance on the North Korean nuclear issue, Xinhua said without elaborating.

China, facing pressure to persuade North Korea to abjure nuclear weapons and enter into multilateral discussions, has in this case too, stuck to calling on the parties concerned to engage in dialogue.

Hu told Manh that China was willing to join hands with Vietnam to raise bilateral ties and cooperation to new heights and to ensure the two sides would always be "good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners," Xinhua said.

"China appreciates Vietnam's stance on adhering to the one-China policy and supporting China's reunification cause," Hu was quoted as saying, referring to Vietnam's pledge not to have formal relations with Taiwan.

Hu, according to Xinhua, said China was willing to work with Vietnam to ensure the two countries would remain good neighbors, friends, comrades and partners forever.

Ideological soulmates but historical rivals, China and Vietnam fought a brief but bloody border war in 1979 following Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia.

Ties improved in 1991 when they normalised relations. Bilateral trade has risen from a mere 32 million dollars in 1991 to 3.5 billion dollars last year.

This is the second visit of Manh to China since he was elected party head in April 2001.

SPACE.WIRE