Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called for the high-quality alignment of China's Belt and Road Initiative with Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan and continuous trade cooperation expansion with Vietnam. 

Xi made the remarks during a phone conversation with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc. 

Xi called on the two countries to promote infrastructure construction interconnectivity and tap into the potential for cooperating in new industries to better serve the economic and social development of the two countries. 

China and Vietnam should enhance people-to-people exchanges, Xi said, adding that China should speed up implementing its projects to aid Vietnam so that the fruits of bilateral cooperation can benefit the people of both countries. 

He also called for joint efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic to effectively protect the lives and health of the two peoples. 

China is willing to continue to assist Vietnam in the fight against the pandemic, Xi said. 

Phuc, for his part, said China has achieved victory in fighting the pandemic, recovering its economy and eradicating absolute poverty. 

The life of the Chinese people has never been better than it is today, he said. 

"Vietnam and China are brothers and close neighbors. The Vietnamese side has always supported the development of a strong socialist China and its pursuit of an independent foreign policy," he said. 

Phuc also called for enhanced bilateral cooperation in various fields, such as trade and economy, pandemic, youth, and cultural exchanges, to take the Vietnam-China relations to a new height and contribute to the development of regional peace and the socialist cause.