After attending the APEC Leaders' Meeting in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the nation's capital Hanoi on Sunday afternoon for a two-day state visit. The trip aims to further strengthen bilateral ties. Our reporter Li Jiejun has more.

 

Another historical moment for China and Vietnam.On Sunday afternoon, the Vietnam-China Friendship building opened in Hanoi.Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the inauguration ceremony.

 

This building began construction four years ago. It has a special role as a place to conduct cultural exchange activities between China and Vietnam.

 

LI JIEJUN HANOI The exterior of the Vietnam-China Friendship Building looks like a lotus -- the national flower of Vietnam. From today onwards, it will be a landmark building in Hanoi -- not only in terms of architecture -- but also a symbol of the traditional friendship between the two countries.

 

This is President Xi's first overseas trip since he was re-elected as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, last month.

 

And his schedule is chock full of activities. General Secretary Xi has held bilateral talks with his counterpart - General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong. The Chinese leader also met chairwoman of Vietnam's national assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. Meanwhile, he attended a photo exhibition entitled "Beautiful Vietnam, Beautiful China" at the Ho Chi Minh Museum.

 

And he topped off a busy day by attending a state banquet held by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang.President Xi's visit has been warmly welcomed by locals.

 

TRAN VIET THAI DEPUTY DIRECTOR AT DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY OF VIETNAM "China is one of the countries which is most willing to promote trade liberalization. Vietnam, as the host country of the 2017 APEC summit, will continue promoting trade liberalization with other countries. Actually, the term appeared in the Da Nang statement. I think China is one of the countries leading trade liberalization and facilitation around the world. That's also one of the major concerns in the region."

 

Since 2015, the two countries have made tangible progress on the strategic alignment of their development initiatives -- China's Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan.

 

Major achievements have been seen in transportation, electricity and manufacturing between the neighboring countries.

 

China has been Vietnam's biggest trading partner for 13 consecutive years, while Vietnam is China's largest trading partner within Southeast Asia.

 

Analysts say the two nations still have potential for greater cooperation in infrastructure, as well as trade and production capacity.

 

Common development will bring real benefits to the two peoples and help maintain economic growth momentum in the Asia-Pacific region. Li Jiejun, CGTN, Hanoi.