To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and president of Vietnam, will pay a state visit to China from Aug 18 to 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

Making China the destination for his first overseas visit since he was elected chief of the CPV Central Committee on Aug 3, following his predecessor Nguyen Phu Trong's death last month, conveys the great strategic significance Vietnam and the CPV attach to further deepening Sino-Vietnamese relations.

That Lam will meet with President Xi Jinping, as well as other Chinese leaders, including the premier and heads of China's top legislature and political advisory body, as well as senior officials from various relevant sectors, according to the itinerary of his visit disclosed by the Foreign Ministry, reflects the two sides' common wish to not only extend the traditional friendship between the two countries, but also carry on their joint efforts to transform the series of achievements of Xi's visit to Vietnam late last year into actions and results.

Lam's visit is expected to mark a good beginning for the two sides to further synergize their endeavors to accelerate the construction of a community with a shared future.

While some external parties are trying to turn the Asia-Pacific into an arena for their geopolitical games by taking advantage of the maritime disputes in the region, the two neighbors are wise to their tricks. The two sides have been actively exploring and carrying out more maritime cooperation projects, striving to promote joint development of the blue economy, and turn the challenges brought about by maritime issues into opportunities for the two sides to deepen their cooperation.

China does not form exclusive small cliques, engage in group politics, or seek camp confrontation. It is willing to strengthen multilateral cooperation with Vietnam under various multilateral frameworks, uphold true multilateralism, and enhance the voice and influence of developing countries in international affairs.

Also, as emerging market economies, China and Vietnam have broad space to strengthen their win-win economic, trade, technology and industry cooperation to seek to translate the complementarity of their economies and development stages into concrete benefits for the two peoples.

The two sides should take more concrete actions to jointly implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, safeguard the global free trade system, and sustain the stability of their industry and supply chains. To that end, China will continue to encourage capable Chinese companies to invest and start businesses in Vietnam. It is hoped that Vietnam on its part will provide a good business environment for these Chinese companies.