ISTANBUL

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi Friday arrived in Vietnam for high-level talks.

Wang is on a two-day trip to China’s southern neighbor to co-host the 15th China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation meeting in Hanoi.

Tran Luu Quang, deputy prime minister of the Southeast Asian nation, will represent Vietnam.

China and Vietnam have upgraded their bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Partnership.

Amid growing exchanges in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner, and invested nearly $1.3 billion into 233 projects in the country in the first six months this year, according to official data.

Investments from China in Vietnam’s 3,791 projects amount to around $25 billion. The two Communist-ruled nations, however, have overlapping maritime claims in the disputed South China Sea.