Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit three Southeast Asian countries over four days next week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reported early Friday.
According to the statement, Xi will visit Vietnam first on Monday and Tuesday, followed by visits to Malaysia and then Cambodia to end the week on Friday.
The trip comes as the trade war between the United States and China escalates as the U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on China to 145 percent on Thursday with China having reciprocated to a total of 84 percent.
As President Trump paused global tariffs on Wednesday, setting a 10 percent baseline for most countries, it is clear that what was originally said to be the U.S. resetting its trade relations is now evolving into a trade conflict between two of the worlds super powers that will certainly affect most of the world.
The planned visit by Xi is being reported as a way for the Chinese Leader to strengthens China's ties with its neighbors.
According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua "The conference pledged to strengthen mutual trust with neighbouring countries and called for more industrial and supply chain cooperation".
Vietnam in particular has long been sought out by the U.S. as a country they wanted to bring into their sphere of influence to act as a counterweight to China. Something that Vietnam historically has rejected despite past grievances and problems with China.
Over the last couple of decades, trade ties between the two countries have grown rapidly, and while Vietnam quickly dropped tariffs they had on U.S. goods, there is no sign that they or anyone else in the region is looking to take an overt stance on on the trade war.
The trip next week however will be a good indicator as to how China's neighbors are going to react to the current new realities of the world.