Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Le Hong Anh, special envoy of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and also a Politburo member and standing secretary of the Secretariat of the CPV Central Committee, in Beijing, capital of China, Aug 27, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping met with a special envoy of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee here on Wednesday and called for joint efforts to mend bilateral ties after the country's recent tensions.

Xi said China and Vietnam are close neighbors and both are socialist countries.

"A neighbor cannot be moved away and it is in the common interests of both sides to be friendly to each other," Xi said during the meeting with Le Hong Anh, a Politburo member and standing secretary of the Secretariat of the CPV Central Committee.

Le Hong Anh arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a two-day visit. Earlier on Wednesday, Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, held talks with him and they agreed to avoid actions that might worsen their disputes on maritime issues.

China welcomes Vietnam's move to compensate riot victims	China urges Vietnam to implement remedies for riots