This is the first overseas visit by General Secretary and President To Lam following Viet Nam’s consolidation of state leadership positions at the first session of the 16th National Assembly. The visit carries special significance and is the most important external activity in bilateral relations in 2026.
It also marks a new milestone in the journey of nurturing and strengthening ties between the two parties and the two countries in the current context, bringing the friendly neighbourly relationship, the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and the Viet Nam-China Community with a shared future of strategic significance into a new stage of development that is increasingly stable and sustainable.
As two close neighbouring countries with interconnected mountains and rivers, Viet Nam and China have built a strong friendship with fruitful cooperation based on a solid foundation of shared cultural values, customs, and traditions, along with the deep affection forged through all the ups and downs of the regional and global situation.
The history of shoulder-to-shoulder struggle by the revolutionary predecessors of the two countries stands as a shining symbol of international solidarity for peace and progress, laying the foundation for Viet Nam–China relations to grow ever stronger, deeper, and more effective and substantive.
The Party, State and people of Viet Nam always remember the valuable support and assistance of the Party, State and people of China in the past struggle for national independence as well as in the current cause of national construction and development.
Looking back on the golden chapters of close-knit friendship, the two countries are even more determined to strengthen their close cooperation and effective coordination such that Viet Nam – China relations become a source of motivation and strength, enabling both countries to confidently enter a new era of development.
In recent times, bilateral relations have maintained a favourable development trajectory, recording clear and relatively comprehensive new progress. China has clearly demonstrated its high regard for relations with Viet Nam at the highest level, considering Viet Nam a priority direction in its neighbourhood diplomacy.
In 2025, as the two countries commemorated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, high-level strategic exchanges were intensified, with visits by key leaders taking place with unprecedented frequency.
Most notably was the state visit to Viet Nam by General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping in April 2025. For the first time, the two sides implemented a peak period of high-level exchanges, with three key leaders visiting and attending activities in each country at nearly the same time: President Luong Cuong attended the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism of the world’s peoples and conducted working activities in China (from September 2 to 4, 2025); Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and conducted working activities in China (from August 31 to September 1, 2025); and Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, paid an official visit to Viet Nam from August 31 to September 2, 2025, during which he attended the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the success of the August Revolution and Viet Nam’s National Day on September 2 and co-chaired the first session of the Cooperation Committee between the National Assembly of Viet Nam and the National People’s Congress of China.
Since the beginning of 2026, Viet Nam and China have continued to exchange delegations and maintain high-level contacts in various flexible forms. Building on a foundation of deep and traditional friendship, Viet Nam–China relations have achieved positive results across many areas. Cooperation in economics, trade, investment, tourism, and infrastructure connectivity has grown strongly with many new breakthroughs.
In 2025, China was Viet Nam’s largest trading partner, while Viet Nam was China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and its fourth-largest trading partner globally by country, with bilateral trade reaching 256.4 billion USD.
In the first two months of 2026, China continued to maintain its position as Viet Nam’s largest trading partner. In tourism, China ranked first in terms of the number of international visitors to Viet Nam in 2025, with 5.28 million arrivals. In addition, defence and security cooperation between the two countries has become more substantive. Sub-national cooperation and people-to-people exchanges have remained vibrant, while multilateral coordination has become increasingly close.
The state visit to China by General Secretary and President To Lam, together with his spouse and a high-level Vietnamese delegation, represents a strong implementation of the consistent foreign policy line set out by the 14th National Party Congress and Resolution No. 34-NQ/TW of the Politburo on independence, self-reliance, self-strengthening, and the diversification and multilateralisation of external relations, in which relations with China are always given top priority, with the aim to work alongside China on the path of building socialism, deepening strategic alignment, and achieving sustainable development together.
We wish General Secretary and President To Lam’s working visit every success, such that it becomes a new milestone in the proud journey of cooperation and friendship between Viet Nam and China.
