
Vietnam’s Communist Party’s Generel Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is seen in Hanoi, Vietnam April 2, 2018, Picture taken April 2, 2018.
11:55 JST, October 26, 2022
BEIJING (Reuters) – The chief of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong will visit China next week on the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Vietnam’s government said on Tuesday, in a rare overseas trip by the ageing leader.
The visit to Beijing will take place from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 the government said, without elaborating. It was also reported in Chinese state media on Tuesday.
Trong, 78, on Sunday sent a message to Xi congratulating him on his precedent-breaking third term as party chief, expressing hope of “further strengthening political trust, and setting a great direction for future development of the relationship between the two countries.”
China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner and a key source of imports for its fast-growing economy, including raw materials and machinery for its crucial manufacturing sector.
Bilateral trade rose 10.2% in the first nine months of this year from a year earlier to $132.38 billion, according to official Vietnamese data, nearly 70% of that imports to Vietnam.
Though the two neighbours have a long history of mistrust and territorial disputes, including over islands and waters in the South China Sea, their Communist parties remain officially close.
Like Xi, Trong has also stayed on as party chief beyond the usual tenure of one or two terms, cementing his influence in a party traditionally governed by consensus among its politburo and powerful central committee. His last trip abroad was to Cambodia.
Vietnam and China are among the last five communist-ruled states in the world, along with Cuba, Laos and North Korea.
"News Services" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
UPDATE2: Four Japanese Self-Defense Forces members injured in explosion at U.S. Kadena Air Base in Japan’s Okinawa
-
Liberal Lee Jae-Myung Projected to Win South Korea Election Overshadowed by Martial Law Crisis
-
Shooter Kills At Least Nine in Attack on Austrian School, Mayor Says
-
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average Rises on Weaker Yen, Easing Worries about Trade Tensions
-
House Republicans Pass Trump’s Big Bill of Tax Breaks and Program Cuts after All-Night Session
JN ACCESS RANKING
-
Toyoda to Become Automobile Business Association of Japan Chairman; to Help Guide U.S. Tariff-Affected Industriessns
-
Visitors to Japan Hit Single-Month Record High in April
-
Japanese Researchers Develop ‘Transparent Paper’ as Alternative to Plastics; New Material Is Biodegradable, Can Be Produced with Low Carbon Emissions
-
Japan to Introduce Car Fuel with Up to 10% Biofuels from Fiscal 2028; Limited Rollout Expected at Areas with Refineries
-
Former North Korean Agent Says Still Many Spies in South Korea Looking to Strain Relations with Japan