General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong this morning left Hanoi for a four-day visit to China, accompanied by high-ranking officials.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong leaves Hanoi on Sunday morning [Oct 30] for a three-day visit to China. Photos: VNA

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and senior officials of the Party and State saw him off at Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi.

The visit, which is made at the invitation of Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China’s President, is joined by Vo Van Thuong, Permanent Member of the Party Central Committee (PCC)’s Secretariat; Truong Thi Mai, Head of Party PCC’s Organization Commission; Phan Dinh Trac, Head of PCC’s Internal Affairs; Tran Thanh Man, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly; To Lam, Minister of Public Security; Phan Van Giang, Minister of Defense; Do Van Chien, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; Le Minh Hung, Chief of CPV's Office; Le Minh Khai, Deputy Prime Minister; among others.

Six out of 18 members of the Politburo, the body with the most authority in the nation, joined the delegation.

Trong becomes the first foreign leader to visit China after the CPC’s 20th National Congress which closed on October 23.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh see off CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi.

According to the Shanghai Observer of the Liberation Daily, the official newspaper of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, Trong’s visit to China is the host country’s first diplomatic operation following the election of a new leadership and has drawn interest from across the world.

According to Liu Qing, Vice President and Senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies and Xu Liping, a research fellow on Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, exchanges between the two parties have continuously deepened since the normalization of relations in the early 1990s.

Their tight friendship has emerged as a “clear feature” in the evolution of the two sides’ relations, the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) cited the source.

Xu said that the visit to Vietnam by Xi Jinping in 2017 and Trong’s visit to China send three messages: the significance and uniqueness of the two countries’ relationship, their special fondness, and the guiding role that party exchanges play in that relationship.

Liu said both parties value their relationship with one another and with their respective nations. For that reason, the primary priorities on the agenda will be fostering economic and trade cooperation and enhancing political trust.

Meanwhile, Wei Wei, head of the Vietnamese department under China’s central TV and radio station said the two parties have maintained high-level strategic conversations over the phone, including during the Covid-19 pandemic. It demonstrates the two countries’ positive and healthy development over the past years.

Both nations have increased their practical collaboration in economics, trade, and investment by taking advantage of their complementary advantages in the spirit of mutual benefit, the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) cited Wei Wei.

He emphasized the governmental structure, traditional cultural identities, and development objectives that are comparable in the two nations.

The Vietnamese top leaders at the airport.

Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai said Trong’s visit will be the first face-to-face encounter between the leaders of the two parties in five years.

The two sides need to improve high-level and multisectoral contacts, develop political confidence, and support the implementation of the common understandings achieved by their leaders and authorities if they want to maximize the potential and strengths of their bilateral relationship.

The two parties must also swiftly remove challenges and impediments while raising the standard of their substantive collaboration across all domains.

“I firmly believe that the relationship towards the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and China will enter a new stage of development with a stronger foundation of friendship and cooperation given the current advantages, potentials, needs, and achievements of the bilateral relationship, coupled with the joint determination and efforts," the ambassador told VNA.