HANOI, Oct. 12 -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived here on Saturday for an official visit to Vietnam, at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh.

The traditional friendship between China and Vietnam has a long and enduring history, Li said, adding that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, bilateral relations have been developing steadily.

Since the beginning of the year, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and achieved fruitful cooperation in various fields, and the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future has started well, Li said.

In August, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, held talks with To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and Vietnamese president, when the two leaders made a strategic blueprint for comprehensively advancing the China-Vietnam community with a shared future under the new circumstances, charting the course for further development of bilateral relations, Li said.

In the face of accelerated changes unseen in a century and growing global risks and challenges, China and Vietnam, as companions of socialism, should strengthen unity and coordination and join hands to promote peace and seek common development, Li said.

Li pointed out that China has always prioritized its relations with Vietnam in its neighborhood diplomacy, and that China is ready to work with Vietnam to carry forward their traditional friendship, strengthen strategic communication, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, consolidate popular support, and push forward the building of the China-Vietnam community with a shared future to deepen and achieve solid progress, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples and make greater contributions to peace, stability, prosperity and development of the region and the world at large.

Vietnam is the second stop on Li's ongoing Asia tour. Prior to this, he visited Laos, where he participated in a series of leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation and conducted an official visit.