U.S. and China vie for influence in Vietnam

President Xi Jinping’s upcoming trip to Vietnam, three months after U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit, further confirms the country’s increasingly strategic role in global supply chains

China-Vietnam: Xi and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expected to discuss upgrading
railway link crossing through Vietnam’s rare earths heartland

U.S.-Vietnam: During Biden’s visit in September, Hanoi lifted ties with Washington to “comprehensive strategic partnership”, putting it on equal diplomatic status with Beijing

Large deposits of rare earths

Kunming
Railway link
CHINA
Haiphong
Hanoi
Gulf of Tonkin
LAOS
VIETNAM
THAILAND 
CAMBODIA
SOUTH CHINA SEA

FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN VIETNAM, 2023* ($ billions)
China is top investor, despite maritime tensions

Others $7.61bn
U.S. $0.53bn
China & Hong Kong $8.29bn
Singapore $5.15bn
South Korea $4.17bn
Japan $3.1bn
$28.85bn


200km 125 miles

*as of Nov 20 

Vietnam has world’s second-largest reserves of rare earths – 22 million tonnes – second only to China. Its production jumped to 4,300 tonnes last year from
400 tonnes in 2021, according to USGS

Sources: Reuters, Vietnam General Statistics Office, USGS Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS