Beijing (VNA) ♊– Global Times, a publication of the People's Daily - an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, has undertaken extensive coverage of Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President To Lam's state visit to China from August 18-20.

An article published on August 20 quoted Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping during talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Lam as saying that Lam's first state visit to China, also the first foreign visit in his capacity as head of the Vietnamese Party and State, holds special significance and reflects the high priority and importance that both Parties and countries place on Vietnam-China relations. Xi noted that it is a crucial time for both nations to elevate bilateral relations to a new level, with substantive outcomes in all aspects. "China takes Vietnam as a top priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy", Xi told Lam, stressing that at this critical stage of development and rejuvenation for both nations, China and Vietnam must work together to build a Community with a Shared Future, following the six major orientations. According to the Global Times, the 14 cooperation agreements signed during the visit will bolster economic connectivity between the two countries, particularly railway connectivity, which is seen as a key to accessing markets in Central Asia and Europe. The newspaper cited statistics of the Nanning Customs in Guangxi province which showed Guangxi's export-import with Vietnam annually rose by 32% between January and July, accounting for 41.3% of Guangxi's total foreign trade. In an editorial entitled “ Stable and developing China-Vietnam ties are worth looking forward to”, the Global Times wrote that the visit demonstrates the positive willingness of China and Vietnam to further promote bilateral relations to achieve more fruitful results based on jointly building the China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, adding that the visit attracted attention from the international community. It highlighted that in recent years, practical cooperation between China and Vietnam in various fields has achieved remarkable results and is further accelerating. Chinese companies have joined projects in solar energy and urban railway infrastructure in Vietnam. Freight trains between the two countries have showed a surge in both frequency and cargo volume; Chinese-made home appliances and smartphones have a high penetration rate in Vietnam, while Vietnamese agricultural products such as watermelon and durian are widely welcomed in the Chinese market due to their seasonal supplement advantages. The friendship cultivated by generations of leaders of the two parties and countries has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples, the paper said. The editorial affirmed that the active and long-term development of the China-Vietnam relationship not only meets the needs of the two countries and the people but also sets an example for neighbourhood diplomacy for other countries as well as the direction for the development of bilateral relations and regional peace and stability./.