Hanoi's streets decorated with Chinese, Vietnamese flags to welcome Xi's state visit to Vietnam

The streets of Vietnam's capital Hanoi are decorated with the flags of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) as well as the Chinese and Vietnamese national flags as the Southeast Asian country is awaiting the arrival of General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

At the invitation of General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee To Lam and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Luong Cuong, Xi is scheduled for a state visit to Vietnam from Monday to Tuesday.

During the visit, Xi will hold talks with General Secretary To Lam and meet with President Luong Cuong, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vietnam is the first leg of Xi's three-nation Southeast Asian tour, which will also take him to Malaysia and Cambodia for state visits from Tuesday to Friday at the invitation of King of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim, and King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia.

Hanoi's streets decorated with Chinese, Vietnamese flags to welcome Xi's state visit to Vietnam

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.

China's aggregate social financing maintains high growth in 2025