Chinese Premier Li Qiang will pay an official visit to Vietnam from Oct. 12-14, at the invitation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
It will be Li’s first official visit to Vietnam since taking office in March 2023, according to an announcement of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang at a meeting in Beijing, China, June 24, 2024. Photo by AFP |
China was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, on Jan. 18, 1950. The two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2008.
Chinese President and General Secretary Xi Jinping made a state visit to Vietnam in late 2023, and Vietnam’s General Secretary and President To Lam paid a state visit to China last August.
China has consistently been Vietnam’s largest trading partner and its second-largest export market. Vietnam is China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and the fifth-largest trading partner globally. Trade turnover between the two countries reached $171.9 billion in 2023.
The number of Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam in the first half of this year surpassed 2023’s total, reaching nearly 1.9 million. Vietnam currently has 23,000 students studying in China, double the number from the pre-Covid-19 period.
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