BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Wednesday sent a letter of congratulations to the 20th theory seminar between the CPC and the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

In the letter, Xi noted that China and Vietnam are good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners, and belong to a community with a shared future of strategic significance.

Both the CPC and the CPV uphold and develop Marxism, unswervingly follow the socialist path, and lead their respective countries in socialist construction, facing many of the same or similar issues of the times, Xi said.

The two parties have carried out in-depth exchanges of experience in governance, jointly explored a socialist modernization path that suits their national conditions, and worked together to promote the localization and modernization of Marxism and the development of the world socialist movement, constantly writing a new chapter of friendship of "comrades plus brothers" in the new era, he said.

The theory seminar is an important platform for exchange and dialogue between the two parties, playing a positive role in consolidating friendship and mutual trust, enhancing ideological consensus, and promoting the development of China-Vietnam relations, Xi noted.

It is hoped that both sides will stay true to their original aspiration, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, and continue to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning on governance experience, Xi said.

He also called for joint efforts to deepen theoretical discussions and academic exchanges, and jointly enhance their understanding of the laws that underlie governance by a Communist party, socialist construction, as well as the development of human society, so as to provide theoretical support for the socialist cause of both countries and the construction of the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, and contribute to the noble cause of human peace and development.

On Wednesday, the two parties held the 20th theory seminar in Vietnam's Ninh Binh.