China will advance high-quality comprehensive strategic cooperation with Vietnam, and accelerate the building of a higher-level China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday.

Xi made the remarks when holding talks with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese President To Lam, who is on a state visit to China on April 14-17.

This marks the first foreign trip Lam made since being elected president of Vietnam earlier this month. The trip also comes a year after Xi's historic visit to the Southeast Asian country.

Xi said Lam's visit to China at the earliest opportunity after being elected president of Vietnam demonstrates the great importance he has attached to the development of China-Vietnam relations.

Xi expressed confidence that under the strong leadership of the CPV Central Committee headed by Lam, Vietnam will firmly follow the path of socialism and strive toward its two centennial goals.

Noting that China always regards Vietnam as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy no matter how the international landscape may evolve, Xi said China stands ready to work with Vietnam to stick to the six goals for the bilateral relations, namely stronger political mutual trust, more substantial security cooperation, more in-depth practical cooperation, more solid public support for bilateral relations, closer coordination and collaboration on multilateral issues and better solutions for managing differences.

Xi said the leadership of the communist party is the most essential feature and the greatest strength of socialism, and defending the socialist system and the ruling position of the communist party is the greatest common strategic interest of the CPC and the CPV.

Xi said the two sides must maintain a high degree of strategic vigilance and strong strategic resolve, always remain confident in their path and system, and ensure that all reform will not change the direction of the path or the nature of the system.

The two sides should effectively leverage mechanisms in aspects including high-level meetings, theoretical discussions, officials trainings, counterpart exchanges and subnational cooperation, implement the new round of cooperation plan between the CPC and the CPV, conduct in-depth exchanges and mutual learning on theories and experiences in party and state governance, and make good use of the China-Vietnam "3+3" strategic dialogue on diplomacy, defense and public security, Xi said.

China and Vietnam should accelerate the alignment of development strategies and prioritize infrastructure connectivity, Xi said, urging efforts from both sides to strengthen cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and the Internet of Things. Xi said that more high-quality Vietnamese products are welcome to enter the Chinese market.

He encouraged China and Vietnam to continue strengthening friendly exchanges and cooperation in tourism, culture, media, education, health, sports and other fields, announcing the launch of the China-Vietnam tourism cooperation year for 2026-2027.

China and Vietnam should uphold the principles of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, and work together to oppose unilateralism and protectionism, said Xi, calling on both sides to safeguard the global free trade system and keep the industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded.

Xi said the two sides should join hands to implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative, and work together to address global challenges.

As this year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, China stands ready to work with regional countries to strengthen coordination and collaboration, and promote the building of an even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, Xi said.

For his part, Lam said that Vietnam is willing to work with China to promote continuous development of the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.

Lam said Vietnam-China relations currently maintain a positive momentum of development with close strategic communication.

Cooperation in defense and security has moved from dialogue to a stage of practical cooperation, he said, adding that economic, trade, investment, and infrastructure cooperation has deepened, people-to-people exchanges are very frequent, and multilateral coordination has become closer.

Vietnam will firmly regard the development of relations with China as an objective necessity, a strategic choice and a top priority, Lam said, adding that his country will continue to support the one-China policy and stands ready to strengthen strategic communication and high-level strategic coordination with China.

Lam said Vietnam will upgrade the level of cooperation in economy, trade, investment, railways and other infrastructure, as well as tourism, and step up cooperation in education, training, science and technology, people-to-people exchanges, and sub-national cooperation.

Lam said Vietnam supports the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative and Global Governance Initiative proposed by Xi and is willing to work with China to advance the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

After the talks, Xi and Lam jointly attended a signing ceremony of cooperation documents. The documents covered areas including inter-party exchanges, public security, justice, economy, industrial and supply chain cooperation, customs cooperation, science and technology, people's livelihoods, human resources development, media, and sub-national cooperation.

At noon on the same day, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan held a welcome banquet for Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly at the Golden Hall of the Great Hall of the People.