Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Vietnam

Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrive at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi on Dec. 12, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

The visit, from Tuesday to Wednesday, is Xi’s third to Vietnam as China’s Party General Secretary and President. The previous two visits were in 2015 and 2017.

Xi is accompanied by several high-ranking Chinese officials, including Cai Qi, member of China’s Politburo Standing Committee, first-ranked secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party, director of the Party’s General Office; and Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister, member of the Politburo and Director of the Party Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission Office.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) receives Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi, Dec. 12, 2023. Photo by VNA

Following a reception ceremony at the Noi Bai Airport, at around 12:25 p.m., Xi got on a Hongqi limousine to travel to the JW Marriott hotel in Nam Tu Liem District.

His car was accompanied by around 10 other cars and several motorbikes by police forces.

Xi’s entourage reached the hotel after around 30 minutes on the road, traveling through Vo Chi Cong Street, Nhat Tan Bridge, Ring Road 2, Lang Street, Tran Duy Hung Street, Thang Long Avenue and Do Duc Duc Street.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (3rd, R) accompanies Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport, Dec. 12, 2023. Photo by Hoang Phong

During the visit, Vietnam and China are expected to signs dozens of important cooperation agreements on multiple fields, including security and defense, communications, trade, investment, digital economy, agriculture export, green development and maritime cooperation.

In an interview on Sunday, Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo highlighted four new aspects of Xi’s visit: “new situation, new direction, new potential and new drive.”

Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu also mentioned that both Vietnam and China expect Xi’s visit to bring about a “new positioning” and “new level” in bilateral relations.

The entourage carrying Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan drive on Nhat Tan Bridge towards their hotel, Dec. 12, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Thoa

China is Vietnam’s largest trade partner for several consecutive years, while Vietnam is China’s largest partner in ASEAN. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $175.6 billion last year, with Vietnam’s exports reaching $57.7 billion and imports reaching $117.87 billion, according to Vietnam Customs.

Cumulatively, until Oct. 20, China had ranked sixth among 143 countries and territories with FDI in Vietnam, with 4,105 active projects and a total registered capital at over $26.5 billion.

Police lead the entourage carrying Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan to their hotel in Hanoi, Dec. 12, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Chinh

*This is a developing story