China and Vietnam have agreed to work on a joint oil and gas project in the South China Sea,easing tensions after a stand-off over deepwater drilling last year. The countries plan to start joint sur-veys this year in the Gulf of Tonkin, extending a 2005 deal to co-operate in the area that had been subject to competing territorial claims in the early 1990s.The agreement,reached after a 7-10 April visit to China by Vietnam’s Communist party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, includes pledges to co-operate on border issues and manage sea disputes.
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