The visit takes place in the context of growing Vietnam-China ties since Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to China.

After the normalization of relations in 1991, the friendship and cooperation between the two countries have continued to develop and flourish in all fields, bringing practical benefits for both sides. The two countries have signed many government level agreements and cooperative documents, creating a legal foundation for long-term cooperation.

The exchange of high-ranking visits has been maintained regularly, with a total of more than 70 visits in 20 years.

During the former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu’s visit to China in February 1999, two countries’ leaders identified the motto of “friendly neighbourliness, comprehensive cooperation, durable stability and future oriented thinking” to boost bilateral ties in the 21st century and agreed to become “good neighbours, good friends, good comrades and good partners”.

Particularly, during the former Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh’s visit to China in May 2008, the two sides agreed to establish the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and a hot line between their top leaders.

Cooperation between the two Parties has been strengthened. Since 2007, China has resumed training high-and middle-ranking Vietnamese officials. In 2008, the cooperative agreements were signed between Central Communist Party of Vietnam's Information and Education Department and the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, as well as between the Party Central Committee's Commission for External Relations and the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China.

During Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to China from October 11-15, 2011, the two sides also inked a cooperative plan between the two Parties for 2011-2015 period.

Relations in the diplomatic and national defence fields have continued to develop, with the signing of a series of agreements between the two foreign ministries in December 2002, between the two public security ministries in September 2003, between the two national defence ministries in October 2003, between the two securities departments in March 2005 and between the political general departments under the national defence ministries in December 2007.

In addition, the two sides also signed a border cooperation agreement and an agreement on cooperation in preventing and combating human trafficking.

Relations among localities have constantly improved, leading to the signing of cooperative agreements and the organization of exhibitions and fairs. In recent years, leaders of many Chinese provinces, such as Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Tianjin, Hainan, Shaanxi, and Shichuan have visited Vietnam. And many Vietnamese provincial leaders have been invited to China.

Other exchange activities include youth festivals, people-to-people forums, and friendship festivals.

In the past twenty years, two-way trade has increased sharply from US$32 million in 1992 to US$30 billion in 2010. Since 2004, China has been one of Vietnam’s leading trade partner with turnover by October this year estimated at more than US$28.14 billion, an increase of 31.5 percent from a year earlier.

Also worthy of note is investment cooperation with many big Chinese groups. Currently, China has more than 800 projects operating in Vietnam, with a total capitalization of nearly US$4.2 billion, ranking 14th among foreign investors in the country.

China has so far provided US$1.4 billion preferential credits for Vietnam to implement economic cooperation projects. In addition, China has granted around yuan 300 million in non-refundable aid for Vietnam to conduct visits or fact-finding tours in China, organise youth exchanges, upgrade some hospitals in Vietnam and build housing department at the Ho Chi Minh National Institute of Political Studies and the Vietnam-China Friendship Palace.

The two countries have achieved fruitful cooperation in education, culture, sports and tourism. Every year, China provides 130 scholarships for Vietnamese students. Currently, 13,000 Vietnamese students are studying at Chinese universities.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit is of great significance since it adds fresh impetus to the growing ties of neighbourly friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples.