Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and President of Vietnam, together with his wife, began their state visit to China on August 18. The trip lasts until August 20.

The visit takes place at the invitation of the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, who is also the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It marks Tô Lâm’s first trip abroad since he was elected general secretary of the CPV on August 3, 2024.

Following the official visit to China (October 2022) of former General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, described by Vietnamese officials as a highly successful one, and the state visit to Vietnam of Xi Jinping and his wife (December 2023), the two countries said in a joint statement that they will continue to deepen and develop the comprehensive strategic partnership and work on building a China-Vietnam community with a common future and with a strategic significance.

In terms of trade, bilateral volume reached USD 171.9 billion in 2023, according to the Vietnam News Agency. The Chinese authorities speak of another amount, $229.8 billion. In the first six months of 2024, trade amounted to $94.5 billion (up 24.1 percent from the same period last year), Vietnam exported goods and services worth $27.8 billion to China, up 5.3 percent, and imported $66.7 billion worth of products from China. Vietnam’s trade deficit with China was 34.1 percent, or $38.9 billion, with an upward trend.

In 2023, China invested US$4.47 billion in Vietnam in 707 projects, making it the fourth-largest investor in Vietnam by amounts and the largest in terms of the number of projects. In the first six months of 2024, China ranked fifth, with investments of $1.299 billion, but still in first place in terms of the number of new projects supported. At the end of June 2024, the total value of Chinese investment was $28.23 billion, which places the PRC in 7th place in terms of investment value in Vietnam, and the total number of projects is 4667.

The Chinese have invested in 19 out of 21 sectors open to foreign investment in Vietnam and in 55 out of 63 provinces in Vietnam.

In terms of tourism, after three years of lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam welcomed 1.75 million Chinese visitors in 2023, making China the second-largest source of tourists. In the first seven months of 2024, Vietnam received 2.14 million Chinese visitors, accounting for 27.1% of total international arrivals in Vietnam, second only to South Korea.

The situation in the South China Sea remains complex, but it is largely under control and talks and negotiations between the two sides are regularly maintained.

Photo source: Xinhua