Chinese President Xi Jinping’s five-day Southeast Asia tour, spanning visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia from April 14 to 18, has been hailed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as a resounding diplomatic success. The trip, the first overseas tour by China’s head of state in 2025, was a powerful affirmation of China’s commitment to good-neighborly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation in the region. It also delivered a broader message: China remains a firm advocate for multilateralism, regional integration, and international trade rules amidst the global headwinds of protectionism and geopolitical fragmentation.

Xi’s visit to Vietnam was perhaps the most politically symbolic stop of the tour. As Wang Yi emphasized, the strategic guidance of the top leaders of the two Communist parties forms the backbone of China-Vietnam ties. This visit was not just ceremonial-it marked a reinvigoration of bilateral relations, with both sides reaffirming their commitment to building a “China-Vietnam community with a shared future.” This concept, rooted in shared political ideologies and intertwined developmental goals, reflects Beijing’s broader vision of solidarity among like-minded neighboring states.

The reaffirmation of the “six mores” principle-more frequent high-level exchanges, more strategic communication, more pragmatic cooperation, more people-to-people connectivity, more collaboration on multilateral platforms, and more effective risk management-underscored a shared desire to elevate cooperation to new heights. One key outcome was the expansion of railway connectivity, symbolizing China and Vietnam’s determination to deepen integration through infrastructure development, a cornerstone of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Beyond transportation, the tour........

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