Chinese president Xi Jinping to visit Vietnam

The visit is made per the invitation by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his spouse, and President Vo Van Thuong and his spouse, a press release by the Vietnam Communist Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations stated Thursday.

It will happen as Vietnam and China commemorate their 15th anniversary of establishing comprehensive strategic partnership. This will be Xi’s third visit to Vietnam as China’s Party General Secretary and president.

Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Oct. 23, 2022. Photo by AFP

China has been Vietnam’s largest trade partner for many consecutive years, while Vietnam is China’s largest partner in ASEAN. Bilateral trade turnover between the two countries reached $175.6 billion in 2022, in which Vietnam’s exports made up $57.7 billion, and imports at $117.87 billion, according to Vietnam Customs.

Cumulatively, until Sept. 20, China ranked 6th among 144 countries and territories with FDI in Vietnam, with 4,023 active projects, totaling to over $26 billion in capital.

In October 2022, Trong paid a visit to China, becoming the first high-ranking foreign leader to visit the country after the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said the visit was an especially important event and was successful in all aspects.

At the reception for Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on Dec. 1, Thuong stressed that Vietnam and China are close neighbors, with several similarities regarding history, culture, and the determination to follow socialism under the Communist Party’s leadership.

Vietnam considers its relationship with China as a strategic choice and top priority in its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralization, he said, suggesting that both countries bolster cooperation in important fields like diplomacy, defense and security, as well as improving the quality and effectiveness of collaboration on multiple fields, focusing on economy-trade, investment, transport and people’s exchange.

Wang said at the reception that China values its friendly, comprehensive and cooperative relationship with Vietnam, considering it to be a priority when it comes to China’s neighbor diplomacy policies. China always supports Vietnam in its efforts for industrialization and modernization, he added.