Chinese Party, State leader starts State visit to Viet Nam

Party General Secretary and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and his spouse arrived in Ha Noi on December 12, starting their two-day State visit to Viet Nam.

The visit is made at the invitation of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his spouse, and President Vo Van Thuong and his spouse, according to the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) Central Committee's Commission for External Relations.

He was welcomed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Chairman of the CPV Central Committee's Commission for Internal Affairs Phan Dinh Trac, Chairman of the Central Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung, Chairman of the President Office Le Khanh Hai, and Chairman of Ha Noi City's People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh, among others.

Xi is accompanied by several high-ranking Chinese officials, including first-ranked secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party Cai Qi; China's Foreign Minister and Director of the Party Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission Office Wang Yi; head of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao; director of the Central Policy Research Office Jiang Jinquan; chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Zheng Shanjie; and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao.

It is the third visit to Viet Nam by the Chinese General Secretary and President since the end of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012 in his capacity as the Party General Secretary.

It is a reciprocal visit following Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China last year, and it marks the third mutual visit by leaders of the two Parties since 2015.