Xi Jinping arrives in Vietnam as China courts leadership for alliance

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Chinese President Xi Jinping is hoping a trip to Vietnam will help strengthen China’s relationship with its fellow communist Asian country. 

Xi began his state visit to Vietnam on Tuesday, arriving at the Central Office of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi. 

Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, after the Chinese Communist Party leader touched down at 

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong attend a meeting at the Central Office of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi. (MINH HOANG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Vietnam is a valuable ally for China.

In recent years, Vietnam has become increasingly friendly with Western powers and their allies in East Asia.

President Biden visited Vietnam in September of this year in a move that many claimed was an attempt to marshal cooperation for Western security interests.

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People wave Chinese and Vietnamese national flags ahead of the arrival of China’s President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at Noi Bai International airport in Hanoi. Xi arrived in Vietnam on Dec. 12 for his first visit in six years as he seeks to counter the United States’ growing influence with the communist nation. (LUONG THAI LINH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden traveled to Hanoi as Vietnam was elevating the United States to its highest diplomatic status, comprehensive strategic partner, underscoring how far the U.S.-Vietnam relationship has evolved since the Vietnam War. 

During his visit, Biden denied that strengthening ties with Hanoi was part of a broader effort to contain China. 

Vietnam also agreed to greater economic and defensive cooperation with Japan — a key U.S. ally in the region — in November.

China’s President Xi Jinping, center, and Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, right, attend the welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. (NHAC NGUYEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

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The cooperative agreement with Japan followed a state visit by Prince Akishino to celebrate five decades of diplomatic relations between the countries.

Xi will meet on Wednesday with President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Vietnam, though ideologically a unitary socialist state under the national communist party, has propagated extensive capitalist reforms that have significantly opened the markets both domestically and internationally.

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at timothy.nerozzi@fox.com