China’s President Xi Jinping yesterday called for stronger ties with Vietnam on trade and supply chains amid disruptions caused by US tariffs, as he attended the signing in Hanoi of dozens of co-operation agreements between the two Communist-run nations.
The visit, planned for weeks and part of a wider trip in Southeast Asia, comes as Beijing faces 145 per cent US duties, while Vietnam is negotiating a reduction of threatened US tariffs of 46pc that would otherwise apply in July after a global moratorium expires.
“The two sides should strengthen co-operation in production and supply chains,” Xi said in an article in Nhandan, the newspaper of Vietnam’s Communist Party, posted ahead of his arrival yesterday. He also urged more trade and stronger ties with Hanoi on artificial intelligence and the green economy.
After he met Vietnam’s top leader To Lam, the two countries signed dozens of co-operation agreements, including deals on enhancing supply chains and on co-operation over railways, footage of the documents reviewed by Reuters showed.
Chinese and Vietnamese state media later yesterday reported that 45 agreements were signed.
The content of the agreements was not disclosed and it was unclear whether they involved any financial or binding commitments.
Under pressure from Washington, Vietnam is tightening controls on some trade with China to make sure goods exported to the United States with a ‘Made in Vietnam’ label have sufficient added value in the country to justify that.
“There are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars,” Xi said in his article, without mentioning the United States. Later, in a meeting with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Xi said the two countries should oppose unilateral bullying, according to Chinese state media Xinhua.
One memorandum of understanding signed yesterday is to boost co-operation between the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which issues certificates on the origins of goods.
Vietnam is a major industrial and assembly hub in Southeast Asia. Most of its imports are from China while the United States is its main export market. The country is a crucial source of electronics, shoes and apparel for the United States.
In the first three months of this year, Hanoi imported goods worth about $30 billion from Beijing while its exports to Washington amounted to $31.4bn, Vietnam’s customs data show, confirming a long-term trend in which imports from China closely match the value and swings of exports to the US
After a two-day stop in Hanoi, Xi will continue his Southeast Asian trip by visiting Malaysia and Cambodia from today until Friday. He last visited Cambodia and Malaysia nine and 12 years ago, respectively.
Xi’s trip to Hanoi, his second in less than 18 months, aims to consolidate relations with a neighbour that has received billions of dollars of Chinese investments in recent years as China-based manufacturers moved south to avoid tariffs imposed by the first Trump administration.
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