BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia next week, Beijing’s foreign ministry said Friday, on his first official foreign trip this year.
Xi’s tour of Southeast Asia will last from Monday until Friday, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.
His visit to the region comes as Beijing squares off with the United States in an escalating trade war triggered by President Donald Trump.
Many Chinese exports are now facing 145 percent tariffs on arrival in the world’s largest economy.
Xi’s visit to Vietnam comes on the invitation of President Luong Cuong, Beijing said. He last visited the country in December 2023.
Vietnam has long pursued a “bamboo diplomacy” approach, striving to stay on good terms with both China and the United States.
It shares US concerns about Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea, but it also has close economic ties with China.
Xi’s visit to Malaysia will take place from April 15 to 17, the country’s government announced this week.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Xi’s visit was “part of the government’s efforts… to see better trade relations with various countries including China“.
He will travel on Thursday to Cambodia, one of China’s staunchest allies in Southeast Asia and where Beijing has extended its influence in recent years, before wrapping up the trip on Friday.
Under former leader Hun Sen — Prime Minister Hun Manet’s father — China poured billions of dollars into infrastructure investments, while Washington’s relationship with Phnom Penh deteriorated.
Phnom Penh described it as a “milestone visit which will further cement the traditional relations of friendship built by successive leaders of both countries”.
