China’s President Xi Jinping speaks at the “Senior Chinese Leader Event” held by the National Committee on US-China Relations and the US-China Business Council on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, California, U.S., November 15, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/Pool/File Photo
HANOI — China’s President Xi Jinping will meet Vietnamese leaders on Wednesday on the second day of a state visit to Hanoi, during which dozens of deals have been announced, including on diplomatic ties, railways and telecommunications.
His first trip to Vietnam in six years came after the visit of U.S. President Joe Biden in September, in a sign of the increasing importance of the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub amid trade tensions between the two global powers.
READ: China’s Xi visits Vietnam after Biden, seeks stronger ties
On Wednesday, Xi will pay tribute to the mausoleum of the founding leader of Communist Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh. He will then meet the chairman of Vietnam’s parliament, Vuong Dinh Hue, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and President Vo Van Thuong, according to a schedule from Vietnam’s foreign ministry.
During the day, a China-Vietnam joint statement on diplomatic relations is expected to be formally signed after its text was shown to reporters on Tuesday.
Xi will meet students before departing in the afternoon from the Vietnamese capital, whose central roads had been festooned with China’s and Vietnam’s red flags for his visit.