China's President Xi Jinping called on Monday for stronger ties with Vietnam on trade and supply chains amid disruptions caused by U.S. tariffs, as he attended the signing in Hanoi of dozens of cooperation agreements between the two communist-run nations.

China and Vietnam signed dozens of deals this week amid the U.S.' global trade war in what President Donald Trump says is an attempt to "screw" Washington.

Xi Jinping has urged Vietnam to resist “unilateral bullying” and uphold free and open trade, as he begins a high-stakes diplomatic tour of the region’s major export-reliant economies in a bid to position his country as a stable partner in contrast to the United States.