KEY POINTS
- China and Vietnam signed around 40 agreements during Xi Jinping’s visit to Hanoi
- Xi warned that protectionism “leads nowhere” and trade wars have “no winners”
- The Chinese President’s visit comes amid US tariff hikes
- Vietnam was Southeast Asia’s top importer of Chinese goods
- Xi is touring Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia to bolster regional ties
HANOI, Vietnam: China and Vietnam signed dozens of cooperation agreements on Monday, strengthening ties between the two countries after Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned that protectionism “leads nowhere” and that a trade war would have “no winners”.
Xi is in Vietnam for the first leg of a Southeast Asia tour, as Beijing tries to present itself as a stable alternative to an unpredictable US President Donald Trump, who announced — and then mostly reversed — sweeping tariffs this month.
After Vietnam, the Chinese President will visit Malaysia and Cambodia during his first overseas trip of the year.
Xi was welcomed to Hanoi with a 21-canon salute, a guard of honour and rows of flag-waving children at the presidential palace, before holding talks with Vietnam’s top leaders including General Secretary To Lam.
The two neighbours signed around 40 cooperation agreements. Details were not immediately available but prior to the visit it was expected that deals would be reached in areas including trade and aviation, AFP reported.
Xi’s visit comes almost two weeks after the United States — manufacturing powerhouse Vietnam’s biggest export market in the first three months of the year — slapped a 46 percent levy on Vietnamese goods as part of a global trade blitz.
Xi’s crucial Southeast Asia tour
Although the reciprocal tariffs on Vietnam and most other countries have been paused, China still faces enormous levies and is seeking to tighten regional trade ties and offset their impact during Xi’s first overseas trip of the year.
Xi is in Vietnam on Monday and Tuesday, before visiting Malaysia and Cambodia on a tour that “bears major importance” for the broader region, Beijing has said.
Speaking during a meeting with Lam on Monday, Xi said Vietnam and China were “standing at the turning point of history… and should move forward with joint hands.”
Xi earlier urged the two countries to “resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment”.
He also reiterated Beijing’s line that a “trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere” in an article published on Monday in Vietnam’s major state-run Nhan Dan newspaper.
Vietnam’s top leader To Lam said in an article posted on the government’s news portal on Monday that his country “is always ready to join hands with China to make cooperation between the two countries more substantive, profound, balanced and sustainable”.
China-Vietnam ties
Vietnam was Southeast Asia’s biggest buyer of Chinese goods in 2024, with a bill of $161.9 billion, followed by Malaysia with Chinese imports worth $101.5 billion.
Firming up ties with Southeast Asian neighbours could also help offset the impact of a closed United States, the largest single recipient of Chinese goods last year.
China and Vietnam already share a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, Hanoi’s highest diplomatic status.
Vietnam has long pursued a “bamboo diplomacy” approach — striving to stay on good terms with both China and the United States.
The two countries have close economic ties, but Hanoi shares US concerns about Beijing’s stance on the South China Sea.
The Chinese President insisted in his article on Monday that Beijing and Hanoi could resolve those disputes through dialogue.
“We should properly manage differences and safeguard peace and stability in our region,” Xi wrote.
“With vision, we are fully capable of properly settling maritime issues through consultation and negotiation,” he said.
Vietnam’s Lam said in his article on the government news portal that “joint efforts to control and satisfactorily resolve disagreements… is an important stabilizing factor in the current complex and unpredictable international and regional situation”.
After Vietnam, Xi will visit Malaysia from Tuesday to Thursday.
Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Xi’s visit was “part of the government’s efforts… to see better trade relations with various countries including China”.
Xi will then travel on Thursday to Cambodia, one of China’s staunchest allies in Southeast Asia. – Agencies
