President Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam and Singapore from Thursday to Saturday amid diplomatic tensions over US guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen's entry into the waters around China's Zhubi Reef in the South China Sea on Oct 27.

This makes Xi's itinerary of special significance to regional stability, especially because some Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, including Vietnam, still have maritime territorial disputes with China, and Singapore is the "brain" of the 10-nation regional body.

China and Vietnam had a very friendly relationship until the late 1970s, when they fell out over border disputes. Their sovereignty-related dispute in the South China Sea in recent years has dealt a further blow to bilateral relations, which in the eyes of many Western media outlets, is a sign of waning mutual trust.

Over the past two decades or so, however, the leader-to-leader and party-to-party diplomacy has played a key role in balancing the China-Vietnam relationship, as well as defusing bilateral tensions. Although their overall relationship is not ideal, the high-level bilateral exchanges are expected to create a favorable atmosphere for Xi's visit to Vietnam, especially because it comes just six months after Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited China.

The two socialist neighbors have a lot in common with regard to their shared interests and pursuit of development according to their national conditions. To achieve prosperity, and improve people's livelihood and good governance, China and Vietnam both have resorted to a series of comprehensive reforms. In this area, China, as a front-runner, has valuable lessons to share with Vietnam.

Their similar stances on democracy and human rights issues, which have often come under criticism from some Western countries, are part of the shared interests. The need to thwart the West-led intervention in their domestic affairs is also likely to bolster bilateral interactions, especially between their security and defense departments.

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