Xi Jinping begins state visit to Vietnam seeking joint response to U.S. tariffs

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a SOUTHEAST Asia tour in a bid to rally the region against the Trump administration's tariff campaign.

Lee Seung-jae covers his first agenda in Vietnam.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at Hanoi International Airport on Monday, to begin his two-day visit to Vietnam.

The trip to the communist nation comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he's pausing reciprocal tariffs on most countries for 90 days while focusing his trade war on China.

During his visit, Xi called on Vietnam to join China in upholding multilateral trade and countering Washington's tariff policies.

Xi also signed dozens of cooperation agreements with Vietnam after holding talks with To Lam, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee.

While the contents of the agreement have not yet been released, Xi's visit also comes as Vietnam has been tightening controls on some trade with China, to make sure products exported to the U.S. with a "Made in Vietnam" label have sufficient added value, after pressure from Washington.

In order to bypass U.S. tariffs against Chinese goods, Beijing would ship products to Vietnam before they are exported to the U.S. as "Made in Vietnam" products.

The Chinese leader will also visit Malaysia and Cambodia from Tuesday to Friday.

The two countries have seen increased trade and investment with China in recent years.

However, it's also worth noting that Vietnam and Cambodia were among the highest hit by Trump's sweeping reciprocal tariffs, set at 46 percent and 49 percent, respectively.

As the U.S and China exchange tariff after tariff, Southeast Asian nations are growing increasingly anxious about being caught in the mix.

Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.