BEIJING -- During Vietnamese leader To Lam's 2024 China tour, Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared a tea gathering for him at the Great Hall of People in Beijing. To Lam chose China as his first overseas destination only two weeks after being confirmed as general secretary of the CPV Central Committee. An editorial from Nhan Dan (People) highlighted the value both countries place on their traditional friendship.

Peng Liyuan, Xi's wife, also invited To Lam's wife, Ngo Phuong Ly, to a tea gathering, where they enjoyed traditional Chinese performances, including Chinese Opera.

Over the years, tea chats have evolved into a routine yet distinctive tradition during mutual visits between Chinese and Vietnamese leaders, given the two countries' similar tea cultures. "Unlike formal talks, tea talks offer a more intimate and personal form of communication for both leaders," said Pan Jin'e, director of the Department of International Communist Movement, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Gift-giving during tea chats has created lasting memories in bilateral interaction. During Xi's state visit to Vietnam in 2023, then Vietnamese leader Nguyen Phu Trong, in a tea gathering with Xi in Hanoi, presented him with a gift: a painting that depicts a previous tea chat they shared in Beijing. "It might not be particularly remarkable, but the true value lies in the cherished brotherly friendship," Trong told Xi.

Back in 2017, after a tea talk in Beijing, Xi presented Trong with a replica of Chairman Ho's handwritten poem in Chinese entitled "Walking." The poem is about Ho's arduous yet determined quest for his nation's liberation. Xi also quoted the poem in his speech to Vietnam's National Assembly in 2015 to encourage both sides to take a far-sighted view for bilateral ties.

China and Vietnam are both socialist countries led by communist parties with similar political systems and development paths. Xi once said: "China and Vietnam have achieved what we have today because we have insisted on reform, opening up and innovation, and because we have found a development path that meets our own national conditions."

In this era of transformation and challenges, the two neighbors have decided to set their sights higher. During Xi's state visit to Vietnam in 2023, they pledged to build a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. Xi told Trong at the end of this trip, "we should walk along this path together."