(Xi's Vietnam-Singapore-Visit) Interview: Xi's visit marks milestone in Vietnam-China ties -- Vietnamese senior party official

The upcoming visit of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese President Xi Jinping to Vietnam will mark a milestone in the relations between the two parties and the two countries, a senior official of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has said.

Hoang Binh Quan, head of the CPV Central Committee's Commission for External Relations, made the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua and other Chinese media stationed in Hanoi.

Xi will pay a state visit to Vietnam from Thursday to Friday at the invitation of CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang.

Xi's visit is "of great significance" as it will be the first by a top Chinese party leader and head of state to Vietnam in the past nine years, and also the first by the top leader of China's new leadership after the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012, Quan said.

Xi's visit also comes as Vietnam and China celebrate the 65th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations.

"The visit will be a chance for the two sides to review their ties in the past 65 years and map out directions for cooperation in the coming years, so as to further develop their relations in an intensive, healthy and stable manner for the benefits of the two peoples, and for peace, stability in the region and the entire world," said Quan.

Party, state and people-to-people diplomacy are the three pillars of Vietnamese diplomacy, Quan noted.

As both Vietnam and China are socialist countries with similar paths of development, inter-party exchanges always serve as the guidance and political foundation for the advancement of their ties, and an important channel for settling problems emerging in the development of bilateral relations, he added.

Before the two countries set up diplomatic ties in January 1950, the relationship between the two communist parties had been established by late Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh and late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong.

"Therefore, amid changing regional and world situations and despite ups and downs in the bilateral ties, the traditional friendship between the two communist parties and the two countries is always the mainstream of the Vietnam-China relations," Quan said.

In the past 65 years, the relations between the two parties have developed intensively in various fields and at different levels, Quan said.

At present, the two parties and the two countries are facing new opportunities and challenges in reform, renovation and opening up. "More than ever before, the two sides need a peaceful and stable environment to serve the strategic goals of development," Quan said.

"Maintaining a stable, healthy relationship between Vietnam and China, as well as strengthening cooperation between the two parties, is the fundamental demand and in the interests of the two peoples," he said, adding it "is conducive to the cause of building socialism in both countries, and to peace, cooperation and prosperity in the region and the whole world."

Xi's visit "will yield substantial results that can firmly promote the relationship between the two parties and the two countries in a healthy, stable and positive way, and will become an important factor in the development of both countries," said the official. Enditem

Editor's note:

Chinese President Xi Jinping pays his first state visit to Vietnam and Singapore on Nov. 5-7 in a trip set to open up new prospects for China's relations both with the two countries and with Southeast Asia as a whole.

Xinhua is wiring a series of in-depth stories about the two-nation Asia tour, China-Vietnam and China-Singapore ties, and Beijing's neighborhood and overall foreign policy.

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