Chinese Premier arrives in Hanoi, beginning official visit to Vietnam

Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Hanoi on Saturday evening, starting a three-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

This is the first visit to Vietnam by a Chinese premier in 11 years and also Li’s first Vietnam trip since he took office in March 2023.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai, these facts demonstrate the respect of the Chinese Party and State and Li himself for the relations with Vietnam.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, and standing Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu welcomed the Chinese leader and his entourage at the Noi Bai International Airport.

The trip takes place in the context that the two nations are gearing towards the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations (January 18, 1950-2025).

The visit follows the state visits by China's Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping to Vietnam in December 2023 and Vietnam's Party General Secretary and State President To Lam to China in August, and a tour of China by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions and working sessions in the country in June.

The visit is the continuation of the tradition of high-level exchanges between the two Parties and two countries, and is of great significance in further strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, promoting the building of a Vietnam-China community of a shared future that carries strategic significance in the direction of “six major goals”.

During his stay in Vietnam, Li is scheduled to have meetings with Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man, and hold talks with his counterpart Pham Minh Chinh.

The high-ranking leaders of both sides will discuss measures to continue effectively realizing the common perceptions reached by the top leaders of the two parties and states and to further consolidate political trust.

The two PMs will focus their discussion on specific solutions to expanding and improving the efficiency and quality of cooperation areas, thus deepening substantive collaboration and bringing benefits to the two countries' people.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference last Tuesday: "China looks forward to working with ASEAN and other regional countries to build consensus, deepen mutual trust, strengthen cooperation, and inject new impetus into peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region and the world at large."

Li Keqiang was the last Chinese premier to visit Vietnam in October 2013, at the invitation of then-Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

China is Vietnam’s largest trade partner and import market, providing Vietnam with input materials and intermediate goods for manufacturing. Vietnam is China’s biggest trade partner in ASEAN and fifth-largest worldwide.