Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong starts China visit

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the closing ceremony of the sixth plenum of the 13th Central Committee of Vietnam’s Communist Party in Hanoi, October 9, 2022. Photo by Nhat Bac

The official visit would last from Sunday to Wednesday. Previously, Trong had congratulated Xi for having been re-elected Party chief for the 20th term.

Trong said he highly valued the contributions of Xi for the Vietnam-China relations and expressed his willingness to bring the two countries’ relations to new heights, satisfying the interests of both sides, for peace, stability, cooperation and development of the region and the world.

Chinese media, citing professor Pan Jin’e from the School of Marxism under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Trong is the first foreign leader to visit China since the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

“The visit of General Party Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong would help the two countries boost their political credibility and relations on all aspects,” Pan said.

Vietnam is China’s largest commercial partner in ASEAN and the sixth largest globally as a country.

The two countries’ bilateral trade reached $165.8 billion in 2021, a 24.6% increase from 2020, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.