Vietnam’s paramount leader, To Lam, today concluded a four-day state visit to China, dominated by discussions on infrastructure, internal security, and international trade. Lam, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), arrived in China on April 14, his first trip abroad since he was elected president last week.
After a suitable grand welcoming ceremony, Lam met on Wednesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who called on the two nations “to work together to oppose unilateralism and protectionism” and to “safeguard the global free trade system,” as per Chinese state media. He also called for the two nations to prioritize infrastructure connectivity and more cooperation on emerging fields like artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
As is characteristic in China-Vietnam relations, Xi also referenced the two nations’ common socialist system, arguing that securing the continuation of Communist Party rule was “the greatest common strategic interest between the two parties.” He also urged both sides to “maintain a high level of strategic vigilance and strong strategic resolve, and always remain confident in the path and system they adopt.” In response, To Lam reportedly told Xi that Vietnam views the development of its relations with China as “an objective requirement, a strategic choice and a top priority.”
All of this was reiterated in a joint statement issued today, stating that the two sides “agreed that Vietnam and China, sharing common aspirations and development paths, view the bilateral relationship as a strategic choice of overarching and long-term significance.” The statement also pledged to enhance cooperation across a wide array of areas, including party-to-party relations, security and law enforcement, and tourism, and pledged to continue the hectic rota of regular contacts between senior officials on both sides. The two sides also “emphasized the need to better manage and actively resolve disagreements at sea, while maintaining peace and stability” in the South China Sea, where they have unresolved maritime and territorial disputes.
Also on Wednesday, Xi and Lam attended a signing ceremony for a range of cooperation agreements covering inter-party exchanges, public security, and technology, the official news agency Xinhua reported.
Lam’s four-day trip to China comes just a week after the National Assembly appointed him as president for the coming five-year term. The move consolidated his control over both the party and the state, and marked a break with the previous system of collective leadership in which Vietnam’s “four pillars” – its four main leadership positions – were held by separate individuals. It also roughly aligned Vietnam with the leadership structure in China, where Xi is the head of both the party and the state.
One interesting element of Lam’s trip was the focus on China’s high-speed rail (HSR) network. The 68-year-old leader began his visit to China by taking a HSR trip from Beijing to Xiong’an in Hebei province. He then finished his trip by making a cross-country rail journey from Beijing to Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, yesterday, prior to his return to Vietnam.
Lam was impressed by what he witnessed, at least if the state-run CGTN network is to be believed. “This trip is truly special,” Lam reportedly said during his journey from Beijing to Xiong’an. He also “singled out China’s technical prowess for special praise.” “Few countries in the world have railways capable of operating at 4,000 meters above sea level,” Lam was quoted as saying.
The length of the latter trip – around 2,400 kilometers – led one observer on X to compare it “to Deng Xiaoping’s historic HSR trip in Japan” in 1978. Indeed, Vietnam is currently in the midst of planning a number of its own HSR lines, part of the CPV’s plan to lift its economy to the next level.
The most prominent of these is a 1,541-kilometer rail line connecting the capital Hanoi to the southern metropolis Ho Chi Minh City. The $67 billion project was approved by the National Assembly in November 2024 and is scheduled to begin construction this year, with completion scheduled for 2035. In February 2025, the National Assembly also approved a 391-kilometer railway connecting the Vietnam-China border gate at Lao Cai-Hekou to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong.
Meanwhile, on April 12, VinSpeed, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Vingroup, broke ground on a 120-kilometer HSR line connecting Hanoi with the port city of Haiphong and nearby Halong Bay. The $5.58 billion project is targeted for completion in 2028.
According to a Vietnamese state media report, Lam “called on Chinese railway authorities and enterprises to share expertise, support technology transfer, and participate in the development of key railway projects” in Vietnam. Among the agreements signed on Wednesday was a memorandum of understanding regarding railway training cooperation, designed to enhance the capacity of Vietnam’s workforce.
Later that same day, during a meeting with Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, Lam proposed improving transport connectivity, “particularly through concrete railway cooperation mechanisms,” Vietnamese state media reported. Whether China’s state companies have any significant role in Vietnam’s HSR build-out, Lam’s journey is a sign that these projects will be a centerpiece of his first full term as president and party chief.
Overall, Lam’s trip testified to the special position that China enjoys in Vietnamese foreign policy, due both to geographic proximity and the political and historical connections between the two nations’ communist parties. As the comments from Xi suggest, this is only likely to be strengthened by the capricious and volatile behavior of the current U.S. administration, both for the remainder of the Trump administration and potentially beyond.