China’s Xi calls for strategic clarity, political security with Vietnam

By Liz Lee

BEIJING, April 15 (Reuters) – China and Vietnam should maintain high strategic clarity and prioritise political security, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Vietnamese counterpart on Wednesday.

Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, is in China until Friday in his first overseas trip since being elected state president last week. The visit is seen a sign of warming ties between the two Communist neighbours.

“Both sides must maintain high strategic awareness and strong strategic determination,” Xi said, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Xi also talked about aligning the countries’ development strategy and prioritising infrastructure interconnectivity.

China and Vietnam have historically swung between conflict and cooperation over centuries but have grown closer in recent years, cooperating in sensitive sectors such as railways and technology, even as they remain at odds over maritime boundaries in the South China Sea.

AI, CHIPS AND TRADE

China will also strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and Internet-related industries, while Xi assured that more Vietnamese products were welcome to the Chinese market.

Trade and investment are the cornerstone of China and Vietnam’s relations, with deeply integrated supply chains that made Beijing Hanoi’s largest trading partner, and Vietnam the top ASEAN partner to China.

The Southeast Asian nation has also been leaning towards a governance model that increasingly mirrors China’s, with tightening state oversight while embracing Chinese technology and regulation, according to internal documents, public policy plans and sources.

Even the leadership structure appears resemblant when Lam consolidated authority earlier this month becoming Vietnam’s state president and breaking away from the country’s traditional collective leadership system.

(Reporting by Liz Lee and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Andrew Heavens)