On January 8, 2014, Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin met with a delegation led by Tran Duy Hai, Deputy Head of the National Border Committee under Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was in China for attending the first round of the Working Group Consultation on China-Vietnam Joint Maritime Development. Liu positively commented on the joint development consultation launched by China and Vietnam, and hoped both sides could reach a consensus on the relevant guiding principles as early as possible and promote positive achievements in the joint maritime development. Tran expressed his willingness to join hands with the Chinese side and actively engage in the consultation in an endeavor to reach a consensus on the relevant issues, yielding pragmatic progress in the bilateral maritime cooperation.