Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and China's Premier Li Qiang have agreed to boost trade and investment ties between the two countries during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil,

China expressed opposition to nearby countries striking tariff reduction deals that cut China out of the supply chain. The People’s Daily, in its commentary, called it a “typical act of unilateral bullying, which seriously disrupts the normal international trade order and must be firmly opposed.”

The president is deploying the word “deal” liberally, using the term to describe all kinds of trade arrangements, some very limited or one-sided.