(Rewrites, adds Xi and Vietnam PM quotes)
HANOI, Dec 13 (Reuters) – The leaders of China and Vietnam hailed as “strategic” on Wednesday their decision to strengthen ties and be part of a community with a “shared future”, as a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping entered its second and final day.
During the trip, Xi’s first this year to an Asian nation, the Communist-ruled neighbours, close in economic areas but at odds over the South China Sea, signed dozens of co-operation pacts, following months of talks on how best to describe ties.
The two sides “announced the establishment of a strategic China-Vietnam community of ‘shared future’ to promote the upgrading of China-Vietnam relations,” Xi told the chairman of Vietnam’s parliament, Vuong Dinh Hue, at a meeting on Wednesday.
In his meeting with Xi, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called the decision “a historically important milestone”, adding that being part of a community with a shared future was a “strategic” choice.
In Chinese, the “shared future” phrasing makes use of a word that means “destiny” but which is translated in Vietnamese and English as the more prosaic “future”.
As China and the United States vie for influence in the strategic nation, the pacts mark an achievement for Vietnam’s diplomacy, although analysts and diplomats said the improvement in relations could be more symbolic than real.
Xi has pushed hard for the upgrade in ties, especially after Vietnam elevated the United States in September to the highest tier of its diplomatic ranking, the same as China’s.
His visit to Vietnam, only his fourth overseas this year after trips to Russia, South Africa and the United States, shows the importance he attributes to the country, which is home to a growing number of Chinese manufacturers.
Vietnam agreed to “support the initiative of building a community of shared future for humankind”, read a joint statement expected to be formally adopted on Wednesday, which had been shown to reporters the previous day. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio, Minh Nguyen and Khanh Vu in Hanoi, and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Clarence Fernandez)
