President Xi Jinping has called for Beijing and Hanoi to find "mutually acceptable solutions" to their South China Sea dispute and achieve long-term regional stability, as he begins a two-day visit to Vietnam.

In an article published in Hanoi mouthpiece Nhan Dan on Tuesday, Xi said the two countries had "camaraderie plus brotherhood" and should "always keep in mind our shared visions and missions".

"Both sides need to act on the common understandings reached by the leaders of our two parties and countries, properly manage differences on maritime issues, and jointly look for mutually acceptable solutions," he said.

It is Xi Jinping's first visit to Vietnam in six years. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=It is Xi Jinping's first visit to Vietnam in six years. Photo: EPA-EFE>

Although the two communist countries have friendly bilateral ties, they have unresolved disputes in the South China Sea. They fought a brief war over the Paracel Islands in 1974 and had another military skirmish in the Spratly Islands in 1988.

Most recently, a Chinese survey vessel and its escort ships were accused of violating Vietnam's exclusive economic zone in May.

Xi said both countries "should vigorously promote cooperation, and make due efforts to build an enabling external environment for our respective development and to realise long-term stability and security in our region".

It comes as tensions have been rising in the contested South China Sea - which China claims almost in its entirety - with a number of confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in recent months.

During his two-day state visit, Xi is expected to meet the head of Vietnam's Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, and President Vo Van Thuong. Xi last met Thuong in Beijing two months ago and Trong in 2022, also in Beijing.

The visit comes 10 days after Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chaired a meeting on bilateral cooperation in Hanoi, where he met Thuong and "reached a new consensus on strengthening cooperation and promoting the sound and steady development of China-Vietnam relations in all fields", according to a Xinhua report.

In his article, Xi highlighted the "traditional friendship" between the two neighbours that normalised diplomatic ties in 1991. Xi described them as "vocal advocates of multilateralism" that have "always treated each other with sincerity".

"No matter how the global environment has changed, our two parties and countries have worked together to uphold peace and tranquillity, pursue development and cooperation, and promote prosperity and progress," Xi wrote, adding that they had found a "promising path" of cooperation.

As Beijing and Hanoi's "comprehensive strategic partnership" entered its 15th year, Vietnam elevated relations with the US to the same level in September, when President Joe Biden visited the country. The Chinese foreign ministry on Monday hinted that Beijing was seeking to upgrade ties with Hanoi.

"An elevated bilateral relationship is a natural result in accordance with the overwhelming trend," ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. "Standing at a new historical point, the two sides will be guided by the high-level common understandings ... and make new progress in growing our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership."

Xi also touched on cultural exchanges in the article, pointing to the popularity of Chinese literature, film and television productions in Vietnam, and the success of Vietnamese pop stars in China.

"The small creeks of ever closer people-to-people interactions are converging into a mighty river of friendly ties between China and Vietnam," he said.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Chinese ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo said "political trust" between the two countries had deepened following Trong's visit to China, and senior leaders had maintained "close strategic exchanges".

"The two party general secretaries reached common perceptions on the promotion of China-Vietnam relations to a new height and defined the direction for the development of the bilateral relations in the new period," Xiong was quoted as saying by the official Vietnam News Agency.