HANOI, April 14, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned Monday that protectionism "leads nowhere" and that a trade war would have "no winners", state media said, as he was due to kick off a tour of Southeast Asia with a visit to Vietnam.

Xi's first overseas trip of the year will see him visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia as Beijing seeks to tighten regional trade ties and offset the impact of huge tariffs unleashed by his US counterpart Donald Trump.

He will meet his three Southeast Asian counterparts on a tour that "bears major importance" for the broader region, Beijing has said.

Writing in an article published Monday in Vietnam's major Nhan Dan newspaper, Xi urged the two countries to "resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment," Beijing's Xinhua News Agency said.

He also reiterated Beijing's line that a "trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere", the agency added.

- 'Bamboo diplomacy' -
Vietnam was Southeast Asia's biggest buyer of Chinese goods, with a bill of $161.9 billion, followed by Malaysia, which imported $101.5 billion worth in 2024.

And firming up ties with Southeast Asian neighbours could also help offset the impact from a closed United States, the largest single recipient of Chinese goods last year.

Xi will be in Vietnam on Monday and Tuesday, his first trip there since December 2023

Vietnam and China, both ruled by communist parties, already share a "comprehensive strategic partnership", Hanoi's highest diplomatic status.

Vietnam has long pursued a "bamboo diplomacy" approach -- striving to stay on good terms with both China and the United States.

The two countries have close economic ties, but Hanoi shares US concerns about Beijing's increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its own, but this is disputed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei.

The Chinese leader in his Monday article insisted Beijing and Hanoi could resolve those disputes through dialogue.

"We should properly manage differences and safeguard peace and stability in our region," Xi wrote, according to Xinhua.

"With vision, we are fully capable of properly settling maritime issues through consultation and negotiation," he said.

After Vietnam, Xi will visit Malaysia from Tuesday to Thursday.

Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Xi's visit was "part of the government's efforts... to see better trade relations with various countries including China".

Xi will then travel on Thursday to Cambodia, one of China's staunchest allies in Southeast Asia and where Beijing has extended its influence in recent years.