Special envoy to visit Laos and Vietnam

A senior diplomat and special envoy of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping will visit Laos and Vietnam from Tuesday to Saturday.

The trip by Song Tao was announced on Monday by a spokesperson with the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.

A former vice-foreign minister, Song is now head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, a department in charge of party-to-party exchanges.

The trip was announced as the ruling party in Laos elected a new chief while the political reshuffle of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is underway.

In the Laotian capital Vientiane, the 10th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) closed on Friday afternoon after the election of the party leader.

Xi sent a congratulatory telegraph to Bounnhang Vorachit, the new party secretary-general, on Friday.

In Hanoi, 1,510 delegates are attending the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which officially opened on Jan 21 and will run until Thursday.

The Congress is set to produce a new Politburo and Secretariat of the CPV Central Committee, which will pave the way for the election of the country's new leadership, Xinhua news agency said.

A vote is set for Tuesday to elect 200 members of the 12th CPV Central Committee, 180 official and 20 alternate ones, Xinhua reported.