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Vietnam’s To Lam touches down in China on first overseas trip as new leader

  • Lam stops in Guangzhou to retrace Ho Chi Minh’s ‘red footsteps’ before heading to the capital

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Vietnamese President To Lam arrives in Guangzhou on Sunday at the start of a state visit to China. Photo: Xinhua
Vietnamese Communist Party chief To Lam arrived in Beijing on Sunday afternoon on his first overseas trip as his country’s leader, pointing to China’s continued importance in Hanoi even as Vietnam strengthens ties with the United States.
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Lam, who is also Vietnamese president, will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the three-day trip, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

Lam was confirmed as party general secretary, the country’s top political position, two weeks ago. He succeeded Nguyen Phu Trong, who died last month after 13 years as leader.
Before heading to Beijing, Lam stopped in Guangzhou on Sunday morning, retracing the “red footsteps” of former Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, according to the CCTV report.

Ho established his Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League in Guangzhou in 1925, the Marxist organisation is widely seen as a pioneer of the Vietnamese communist movement.

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Lam said he looked back at “the friendly exchanges between the older generation of leaders of Vietnam and China”.

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