Xi Jinping’s first overseas trip this year will allow him to visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia as Beijing tries to tighten regional trade relations and offset the impact of huge tariffs released by his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.
Beijing said he will meet with his three Southeast Asian counterparts on a tour, which is “critical” for the wider region.
Beijing’s Xinhua News Agency said that in an article published in Vietnam’s major NHAN DAN newspaper on Monday, Xi Jinping urged the two countries to “firmly protect the multilateral trading system, a stable global industry and supply chain, and an open and cooperative international environment.”
The agency added that he also reiterated Beijing’s boundaries that “the trade war and tariff war will not win the winners, and protectionism will have nowhere to go”.
Beijing is trying to use itself as a stable alternative to a volatile Trump, who announced (and then mostly reversed) tariffs announced this month have put global markets into the tail. December 2023.
Vietnam has long adopted the “bamboo diplomacy” approach and strives to maintain good relations with China and the United States.
The two countries have close economic ties, but Hanoi expressed concern about Beijing’s growing decisiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea belong to itself, but this is a dispute between the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei.
The Chinese leader insisted in his article on Monday that Beijing and Hanoi could resolve the disputes through dialogue.
“We should properly manage differences in our region and maintain peace and stability,” Xinhua said.
“With the vision, we are fully capable of properly addressing maritime issues through consultation and negotiation.”
