China’s leader Xi Jinping said no one wins in a trade war as he kicked off a diplomatic tour of South-East Asia , presenting China as a force for stability in contrast with US President Donald Trump’s latest moves on tariffs,

Although Trump has paused some tariffs, he has kept in place 145 per cent duties on China, the world’s second-largest economy.

“There are no winners in a trade war, or a tariff war,” Xi wrote in an editorial jointly published in Vietnamese and Chinese official media.

“Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment.”

Xi’s visit lets China show South-East Asia it is a “responsible superpower in the way that contrasts with the way the US under President Donald Trump presents to the whole world,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute.

While Trump has said he respects Xi, he interpreted the meeting between the two Asian leaders as a sign they were attempting to put the US at a disadvantage on trade.

Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said China and Vietnam were trying “to figure out how do we screw the United States of America.”

Xi was greeted on the tarmac by Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong at the start of his two-day visit, a mark of honour not often given to visitors, said Nguyen Thanh Trung, a professor of Vietnamese studies at Fulbright University Vietnam.

While Xi’s trip likely was planned earlier, it has become significant because of the tariff fight between China and the US.

The visit offers a path for Beijing to shore up its alliances and find solutions for the high trade barrier that the US has imposed on Chinese exports.

Vietnam and China signed a series of memorandums in areas including strengthening cooperation in supply chains, rail development and environmental protection, according to Associated Press footage of the signed documents.

Nhan Dan, the official mouthpiece of Vietnam’s Communist Party, said that China and Vietnam will speed up a $US8 billion railway project connecting the two countries in a deal that was approved in February.

Vietnam is experienced at balancing its relations with the US and China.

It is run under a communist, one-party system like China but has had a strong relationship with the US.

In 2023, it was the only country that received both the US president Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping.

That year it also upgraded the US to its highest diplomatic level, the same as China and Russia.