Chinese President Xi on state visit to Vietnam
Sunday, November 12, 2017, 15:55 GMT+7
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Hanoi on Sunday to begin his two-day state visit to Vietnam.
Xi’s visit, which will conclude on Monday, comes at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Vietnamese State President Tran Dai Quang.
The Chinese president is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.
This is his first foreign trip after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing between October 18 and 24, 2017, at which he was reelected as general secretary for the second term.
 |
| Chinese President Xi Jinping waves among a crowd in Hanoi, Vietnam, November 12, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
Analysts see this as an indication that Chinese leaders consider relations with Vietnam important and that it is necessary to cement the two nations’ ties.
China is Vietnam’s biggest trade partner and tourism market.
It is the eighth-largest investor among 122 countries and territories directly investing in Vietnam.
Vietnam is China’s biggest trade and tourism partner in Southeast Asia.
China has been Vietnam’s top trade partner since 2004, acting as the Southeast Asian nation’s No.1 import market and second-largest export market.
Bilateral trade rose 2,200 times to US$70.5 billion in 1991-2016.
 |
| A car carrying Chinese President Xi Jinping is pictured amid a crowd in Hanoi, Vietnam, November 12, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
Last year, Hanoi ranked sixth on Beijing’s export market list. Vietnam became China’s biggest trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations the same year.
Two-way trade topped $55 billion in January-August, up 12.4 percent year on year. Vietnam’s trade deficit with China reached about $17.8 billion, down 5.4 percent against one year earlier.
China had invested in 1,727 projects in Vietnam as of August 2017, with a registered capital of over $11.9 billion.
In January-August, China was Vietnam’s fourth-largest investor with more than $1.6 billion in registered capital.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
