BEIJING -- China on Thursday pledged to work with Vietnam to remove obstacles to keep bilateral ties on track ahead of a visit by China's top diplomat next week.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo will visit Vietnam from Sept. 5 to 9 as the guest of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.

"We hope the visit will play a positive role in boosting China-Vietnam all-round strategic cooperative partnership," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said at a press briefing on Thursday.

Ma said Dai will meet with Vietnam's new leadership and co-chair the fifth meeting of the China-Vietnam steering committee with Nguyen Thien Nhan.

The steering committee is a platform for dialogue between high-level officials of the two countries. The committee meets once a year to discuss strategic and critical issues that affect the bilateral relationship.

Participants include officials from the ruling party, military, and central and local governments of both countries.

Ma said a healthy and stable China-Vietnam relationship serves the fundamental interests of both countries and their peoples and works for regional stability and prosperity.

Ma said China would like to work with Vietnam to step up friendly exchanges, deepen pragmatic cooperation, remove all obstacles and keep bilateral relations on the right track.