Top-ranking Chinese officials called for infrastructure and supply chain cooperation with Indonesia and Vietnam, two of the strongest economies in Southeast Asia.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang spoke with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh by phone on Tuesday, marking Li's first official dialogue with his counterpart from the socialist country since assuming his new post last month.
Li said China and Vietnam should work together to build a mutually beneficial and stable industrial supply chain system.
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He added that the two countries should continue to promote the Belt and Road Initiative, China's strategy to boost global trade and infrastructure connections, as well as the Two Corridors, One Economic Circle initiative - an economic zone linking the border regions of China and Vietnam.
Li also highlighted his concerns about the Asia-Pacific region during his talks with Chinh, suggesting the two sides "insist on managing difference through dialogue".
"[The two countries] should jointly create a favourable 'external environment' for development," Li said, adding that China and Vietnam should be drivers of stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Vietnam is one of the major players in the South China Sea, with one of the longest coastlines on the disputed waterway and territorial claims to contested islands and reefs. It is also building up its military presence in the region.
Chinh said ties between the two countries were "at a new historical starting point", and vowed to enhance the country's cooperation with China in various fields.
Also on Tuesday, China's top diplomat Wang Yi held talks in Beijing with Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Indonesia's coordinator for cooperation with China.
Wang encouraged Indonesia - the biggest economy and most populous country in Southeast Asia - to further engage with China's multilateral economic initiatives.
He said the two countries would deepen cooperation in infrastructure and maritime affairs while strengthening the development of finance, the green economy and food security.
Luhut also pledged to cooperate with China under the belt and road strategy and applauded Beijing's role in brokering the normalisation of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Both Vietnam and Indonesia are important economic powers within Asean.