Nguyen Phu Trong, the leader of the country’s ruling Communist Party, will travel to China next week at President Xi Jinping’s invitation, the Vietnamese government announced on Tuesday. This will be an unusual overseas trip for the ailing leader.
The ministry stated without providing further details that the visit to Beijing will occur from October 30 to November 2. On Tuesday, it was also covered by the official Chinese media.
Trong, 78, congratulated Xi on his unprecedented third term as party leader in a message sent to him on Sunday. In it, he expressed hope for ‘further strengthening political trust and setting a great direction for future development of the relationship between the two countries.’
Vietnam’s greatest commercial partner and major supplier of imports, including raw materials and equipment for its vital industrial sector, is China.
According to official Vietnamese figures, bilateral commerce increased 10.2% in the first nine months of this year from the same period last year to $132.38 billion, with roughly 70% of that amount coming from imports into Vietnam.
Despite a long history of distrust and territorial disputes between the two neighbours, especially those involving islands and waterways in the South China Sea, their Communist parties continue to be publicly close.
Post Your Comments