Vietnam’s Top Leader To Visit China From Sunday

Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, will make an official visit to China from Sunday until August 20, Vietnamese government and Chinese state media said, cementing close ties between the Communist-run neighbours.

Report says on his first foreign trip since his appointment this month as general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, Lam is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials.

Despite their economic and trade links, the two nations occasionally clash over boundaries in the energy-rich South China Sea, a key waterway claimed by Beijing almost in its entirety, despite overlapping claims by several nations.

Lam’s visit follows an invitation from Xi and his wife, Vietnam’s government said in a statement.

China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner, with two-way trade in the first seven months of this year rising 25% from a year earlier to $112 billion, Vietnamese customs data shows.

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere