China’s leader Xi Jinping said that no one wins in a commercial war when a diplomatic tour of Southeast Asia began on Monday, reiterating China’s commitment to global trade in contrast to the latest tariff movements of US President Donald Trump.
Althegh Trump has stopped some rates, has maintained 145% of Dekens in China, the second largest economy in the world.
“There are no winners in a commercial war, or a tariff war,” XI wrote to an editorial published jointly in official Vietnamese and Chinese media. “Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trade system, supply chains and industrial supply and stable supply, and the open and cooperative international environment.”
The visit of Xis Lets China shows Southeast Asia is a “responsible superpower in the way that contrasts with the way in which the United States under President Donald Trump is presented to everyone,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting member of Singapore.
XI was received in the asphalt by the president of Vietnam, Luong Cuong, at the beginning of his two -day visit, a brand of honor that is often not for visitors, said Nguyen Thanh Trung, professor or Vietnamese at Fulbright Vietnam University.
The students of a battery art group acted while the women stirred the flags of the Chinese and communist yellow parts.
Although XI’s trip was probably planned above, it has become significant due to the tariff fight between China and the United States, the visit offers a path for Beijing to underpin its alliances and find solutions for the high commercial barrier that the United States has imposed on Chinese exports.
In Vietnam, XI will meet with the general secretary of the Vietnam Communist Party for Lam, its counterpart, as well as with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
“The trip to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia is about how China can really be isolated against Trump,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, noting that since XI became the president in 2013, he has only visited Vietnam.
The time of the visit sends a “strong political message that Southeast Asia is important for China,” said Huong Le-Tu of the Expert Group of the International Crisis Group.
She said that given the seriousness of Trump’s tariffs and, despite the 90 -day pause, the Southeast Asia nations were anxious that tariffs, if implemented, could complicate their development.
Vietnam has experience in balancing its relations with the United States and China. It runs under a single -party communist system like China, but has had a strong relationship with the United States.
In 2023, it was the only country that resorted to both the president of the United States, Joe Biden and the Xi Jinping of China.
That year also improved the United States at its highest diplomatic level, as well as China and Russia.
Vietnam was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the country who tried to decoupling their Chinese supply chains, as companies moved here.
China is its largest commercial partner, and China-Vietnam’s trade increased 14.6% year-on-year in 2024, according to Chinese state media.
But the intensification of the commercial war has put Vietnam in a “very precarious situation” given the impression in the United States that Vietnam is serving a back door for Chinese products, said Giang, an analyst at the Iseas of Singapore – Yusof Ishak Institute.
Vietnam had been with 46% of tariffs under the order of Trump before the 90 -day pause.
China and Vietnam have long -term real differences, including territorial disputes in the Southern China Sea, where Vietnam has faced China’s Coast Guard, but it is not usually confrontations.
After Vietnam, XI is expected to go to Malaysia below and then to Cambodia.