Xi congratulates Vietnam's new president

President Xi Jinping has congratulated To Lam on his assuming office as president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, pledging to work with him to promote bilateral relations.

In a congratulatory letter sent to Lam on Wednesday, Xi said that China and Vietnam, both socialist countries, are friends and neighbors connected by mountains and rivers.

Xi spoke of his state visit to Vietnam last year, when he and Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, jointly announced the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, opening a new chapter in the relationship between the two parties and the two countries.

Xi said he is happy to see that various departments and local authorities of both countries are stepping up the construction of the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, and have made steady progress in that direction.

Noting that he attaches great importance to the development of China's relations with Vietnam, Xi said he is willing to work with Lam to maintain strategic communication and guide both countries in the building of the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, with more substantial results in broader fields, delivering more benefits to the people of both countries.

Lam, 67, who was Vietnam's minister of public security since April 2016, was elected the country's new president on Wednesday. He serves as a member of the Political Bureau of the 13th CPV Central Committee.

In his inauguration speech, Lam said he is deeply aware of his great responsibility to the party, the state and the people, and pledged to seriously and fully perform the duties of the president of Vietnam as defined by the Constitution.

Lam also vowed to actively fulfill the country's internal, external, defense and security tasks, and — together with the entire party, people, military and organization in the political system — promote the highest spirit of "self-reliance, self-confidence, self-strength, self-resilience and national pride".