Xi Jinping held meetings with Vietnamese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, To Lam, who is on a state visit to China. Xi is quoted in Xinhua: “China and Vietnam should uphold the principles of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, and work together to oppose unilateralism and protectionism…. Both sides should safeguard the global free trade system and keep the industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded,” he said.
This marks the first foreign trip Lam has made since being elected President of Vietnam earlier this month, and comes a year after Xi’s historic visit to Hanoi.
Xinhua adds that Lam said that “Vietnam will upgrade the level of cooperation in economy, trade, investment, railways and other infrastructure, as well as tourism, and step up cooperation in education, training, science and technology, people-to-people exchanges, and sub-national cooperation.”
Vietnam has retained its position as China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN for 10 consecutive years and ranked as China’s fourth-largest globally in 2024 and 2025, according to Vietnam News Agency.
