Premier: Ties with Hanoi are improving

Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday that China and Vietnam "have overcome their difficulties through joint efforts" after maritime problems and a standoff flared in May.

Beijing called upon Hanoi to meet it halfway to make sure the bilateral and cooperative agendas are in good shape, Li said when meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Europe Meeting, in Milan, Italy.

A nationwide protest against China erupted in Vietnam after a Chinese company began a legal oil drilling operation in the waters close to China's Zhongjian Island in the South China Sea in May.