The Government News on December 7 quoted the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations as announcing that China’s Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and his spouse will pay a State visit to Vietnam from December 12-13.

The visit will be made at the invitation of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and State President Vo Van Thuong.

The official visit to China by Party General Secretary Trong from October 30 to November 2, 2022, contributed greatly to promoting Vietnam-China solidarity and their traditional friendship while deepening their Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership in the new era, the Government News commented, adding that trade has always been a bright spot in bilateral ties, since Vietnam continues to be the largest ASEAN trading partner of China and the fourth-largest in the world, after the US, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

Two-way trade hit $175.6 billion last year, a 5.5 per cent increase against 2021. In the first seven months of this year, trade turnover fell 12 per cent year-on-year to $89.1 billion, while Vietnam’s trade deficit with China was $27.4 billion in the period, down 34.2 per cent, it reported.

As for investment, China ranks sixth among countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 3,791 valid projects and capital of more than $25 billion as of June 20, 2023, and it was the largest source of visitors to Vietnam for many years in the pre-pandemic period, with more than 5.8 million in 2019.