his first foreign trip since becoming president. The Communist Party boss was elected president -- the number two position in Vietnamese politics -- by the National Assembly on Tuesday, unifying leadership of the party and state as Xi did in China. Lam and his spouse "will lead a high-level delegation on a State visit to China from April 14-17, 2026," Vietnam's foreign ministry said in a statement. An official briefed on Lam's travel plans previously told AFP the trip would begin April 15, saying the Vietnamese leader would meet with Xi. Despite rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, the two socialist states have sought to deepen already close economic ties to guard against global trade upheaval caused by US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Both Vietnam and China get much of their oil imports via the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has largely been halted due to the US-Israeli war with Iran. Xi on Tuesday congratulated the Vietnamese leader on becoming president and expressed his willingness "to work with To Lam... to continuously strengthen our respective socialist causes", Chinese state media reported. (Bssnews)