Riyaz ul Khaliq
13 December 2023•Update: 13 December 2023
ISTANBUL
Seeking to carry forward bilateral relations with a touch of “older-generation leaders,” China’s President Xi Jinping on Wednesday met with his Vietnamese counterpart Vo Van Thuong in Hanoi.
Xi, on the final day on a two-day state visit, also visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in the capital to lay a wreath.
The Chinese president also met Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Vuong Dinh Hue, chairman of the country’s National Assembly, according to China’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hua Chunying.
“China firmly supports Vietnam’s socialist path suited to its national conditions… (China) believes Vietnamese people will make new and greater achievements in socialist development,” said Xi, who is on first trip to China’s southern neighbor in six years.
On Tuesday, Xi and Vietnamese Communist Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong witnessed the signing of cooperation documents between the two sides.
“As good neighbors, good partners, good brothers, and good comrades, China and Vietnam have unique advantages of following the trend of the times, geographic proximity and shared cultural affinity in building a community with shared future that carries strategic significance,” said the Chinese president.
Xi called on the two sides to “carry forward the traditional friendship forged by older-generation leaders, build a community with a shared future, and make steady progress in modernization, to achieve common success, benefit the two peoples, and contribute to regional peace and prosperity.”
It has been 15 years since China and Vietnam established a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
However, during Xi’s meeting with Trong, the two sides characterized the bilateral relations as “camaraderie plus brotherhood.”
China and Vietnam have overlapping maritime claims in the disputed South China Sea.
And in his meeting with Vietnamese Communist leader Trong, Xi said the two sides should “manage differences on maritime issues and advance maritime joint development.”
He added that Beijing and Hanoi should also “coordinate closely on international and regional issues.”
Vietnam is China’s largest trade partner in the Southeast Asian region. Their bilateral trade rose to $240 billion last year, and topped $185 billion in first 10 months of this year.
