Clutch of deals as Xi woos Hanoi

Vietnam and China have signed 37 agreements during President Xi Jinping's two-day visit to Hanoi, including on cross-border rail development and trade.

The two countries have also agreed to conduct joint patrols in the Tonkin Gulf.

The deals came as Xi arrived in the Vietnamese capital yesterday with a call for a "new stage" in relations with Vietnam as he began his first visit in six years, seeking to counter the United States' growing influence with the communist nation.

Xi, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, met the leader of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, soon after arrival and three months after Hanoi upgraded diplomatic ties with Washington when US President Joe Biden visited.

Biden's visit was part of US efforts around the world to contain China's rising economic power - and to secure supplies of crucial materials needed for high-tech manufacturing.

Speaking upon arrival, Xi said he would talk with Vietnamese leaders on "the overall, strategic, and directional issues of China-Vietnam relations, as well as international and regional issues of common concern, in order to push bilateral relations into a new stage", according to Chinese state media.

Vietnam has long pursued a "bamboo diplomacy" approach, striving to stay on good terms with both China and the US.

It shares US concerns about Beijing's increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea, but it also has close economic ties with China.

Vietnam and China already share a "comprehensive strategic partnership," Vietnam's highest diplomatic status. Hanoi and Washington upgraded their relationship to the same level in September.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the visit would involve discussions on "bringing China-Vietnam relations to a higher position".

That could see Xi push for Vietnam to join his "Community of Common Destiny," a loosely defined phrase that refers to a vision of future cooperation on economic, security and political issues.

In an article published yesterday in Vietnam's Nhan Dan newspaper, Xi said that "Asia's future is in the hands of no one but Asians."