China and Vietnam have held a new round of talks on maritime delimitation and joint development in the South China Sea, with both sides pledging to accelerate negotiations and seek substantive progress at an early date.

The 18th round of talks of the China-Vietnam working group on waters outside the mouth of the Beibu Gulf and the 15th round of talks of the working group on joint maritime development were held on Wednesday in Vung Tau, Vietnam.

The talks were co-chaired by Hu Wei, China's representative for boundary and ocean affairs at the Foreign Ministry, and Nguyen Dang Thang, director of the National Boundary Commission under Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the talks, the two sides conducted in-depth exchanges on maritime delimitation in the waters outside the mouth of the Beibu Gulf and joint development in the South China Sea.

Both sides agreed to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, accelerate negotiations on maritime delimitation and joint development, and strive to achieve substantive progress as soon as possible.

The two sides also exchanged views on other maritime-related issues and agreed to properly manage maritime differences, actively promote maritime cooperation, and jointly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.