Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, on Sunday afternoon presided over a welcome ceremony at the highest level for U.S. President Joe Biden, who had arrived in Hanoi the same day for a state visit to Vietnam lasting until Monday.

At 4:45 pm, U.S. President Biden and his entourage came to the Presidential Palace.

The U.S. leader later received a bouquet of flowers from Hanoi children.

Party General Secretary Trong and President Biden then shook hands with and greeted officials from the two sides while local children were waving Vietnamese and U.S. flags to welcome the delegates.

They also witnessed Vietnamese honor guards’ parade at the Presidential Palace.

The two leaders later left the Presidential Palace for the Office of the Party Central Committee for their talks.

Earlier on the day, many Vietnamese officials and diplomats gathered at Noi Bai International Airport in the Vietnamese capital to welcome the U.S. president and his entourage.

Biden’s entourage includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc E. Knapper, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and Deputy National Security Advisor John Finer, among others.

His trip takes place at a time when both sides celebrate the 10th anniversary of their comprehensive partnership.

After 28 years of the normalization of bilateral relations and 10 years of the comprehensive partnership, the Vietnam-U.S relationship has made significant strides with intensive, practical, and comprehensive achievements in all important sectors and at the bilateral, regional, and international levels, contributing substantially to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world as a whole, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For Vietnam, the U.S. is a strategic partner, while Washington has repeatedly affirmed that it supports a strong, independent, self-resilient, and prosperous Vietnam and wishes to upgrade the relations with Hanoi to a new height.

An important foundation for the development of the two countries’ comprehensive partnership is their affirmation of basic principles, such as respect for each other’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, political institutions, as well as fair and mutually beneficial cooperation on the basis of international law and the United Nations Charter.

“President Biden's visit to Vietnam is a ‘powerful opportunity’ to advance Vietnam-U.S. relations in a way that will deliver for the American people and broader security, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” according to Sullivan.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc said the visit is a special event which shows that the U.S. attaches great importance to Vietnam's political institutions, the role of the Communist Party of Vietnam and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and Vietnamese leaders.

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