Vietnam’s To Lam makes China his first stop after becoming party chief

The Vietnamese leader will arrive in Beijing on Sunday for a three-day visit that is expected to have economic ties high on the agenda

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Vietnamese President To Lam was formally made general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam on August 3, making him the most powerful figure in the country’s leadership structure. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:00pm, 15 Aug 2024Updated: 5:37pm, 15 Aug 2024

Economic ties are expected to be high on the agenda of Vietnam’s Communist Party chief To Lam when he arrives in Beijing on Sunday, particularly when it comes to securing China’s support for his country’s rail projects, according to Chinese experts.

But one observer warned that the bond between the ruling communist parties – viewed by others as “unshakeable” – could have its limits, with the ongoing disputes in the South China Sea and their countries’ history of conflict.

Lam, who is also Vietnam’s president, will pay a three-day state visit at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, China’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday.

It will be Lam’s first overseas trip since he was named general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country’s top post. He succeeded long-serving party head Nguyen Phu Trong, who died on July 19.

Cheng Hanping, a senior research fellow at Nanjing University’s Collaborative Innovation Centre of South China Sea Studies, said Lam’s visit was likely to show the “ballast” role of the relationship between the two ruling communist parties.

“No matter how the world changes or what contradictions there are between China and Vietnam, the party-to-party relationship between the two parties in China and Vietnam is ballast and unshakeable,” Cheng said.