Chinese President Xi Jinping and his spouse will make an official visit to Vietnam on December 12-13, his third in office following those in 2015 and 2017. 

China’s President Xi Jinping. Photo: AFP/TTXVN

The visit will be made at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong and his spouse and State President Vo Van Thuong and his spouse.

The visit comes at a time when the two countries commemorate the 15th anniversary of upgrading relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, according to the CPV’s Commission for External Affairs.

Vietnam and China are neighboring countries that share a long-standing friendship, similarities in history and culture, and development path.

The latest high-ranking activity between Vietnam and China was the 15th Joint Steering Committee Meeting co-chaired by Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi early this month.

Vietnam is China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and the fourth largest in the world, while China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner in recent years. According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, two-way trade in 2022 hit US$175.6 billion. Regarding investment, China was the sixth largest investor in Vietnam, with more than $26 billion in more than 4,000 projects as of September 20.   

Among its neighboring countries, Vietnam shared the longest land border with China, some 1,500 km.