Chinese President Xi and Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's Communist Party chief, address young peoplefrom both countries in Beijing, April 4, 2015. [Photo by Wu Zhiyi / China Daily]

After a flurry of diplomatic activity involving top European nations, President Xi Jinping isturning his attention to Southeast Asia, making key visits to Vietnam and Singapore amidtensions over the South China Sea.

On Thursday, he starts a visit to Vietnam, the first to the country by a Chinese top leaderin a decade and Xi's first to the nation since he took office in 2013.

His trip signals an improving relationship between Beijing and Hanoi.

Xi, as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee andPresident of China, will make a state visit to Vietnam from Thursday to Friday.

The visit is being made at the invitation of Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of theCentral Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and Vietnamese President TruongTan Sang, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Xi will leave Vietnam on Friday to make his first state visit to Singapore at the invitation ofSingaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam. The visit will mark the 25th anniversary ofthe establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

He will meet with Tan and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and also attendsigning ceremonies for cooperation agreements.

Liu Zhenmin, China's vice-foreign minister, said Xi may sign deals with Singaporeanleaders covering finance, education, technology and urban management.

Xi will also meet with Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Saturday to discuss cross-Straitsissues.

In recent years, China and Vietnam have seen more frequent exchanges between high-ranking leaders, closer economic and trade relations as well as people-to-people andcultural exchanges.

In September, Truong Tan Sang attended the ceremony in Beijing marking the 70thanniversary of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War.

Wei Ling, director and researcher at the Institute of Asian Studies at China Foreign AffairsUniversity, said Xi's state visit to Vietnam will send a positive signal to the world as itwatches the situation in the South China Sea.

"Xi's visit will not only serve as a stabilizer, but more importantly as a propeller." Wei said. "Despite existing differences, getting closer with Vietnam is a way of demonstratingconfidence to the international community.

"China insists on shelving disputes when they can't be solved immediately, but that doesnot mean we cannot enhance our relations." Wei said.

Jia Duqiang, an expert on Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of SocialSciences, said Xi is visiting Vietnam and Singapore partially because of the significant rolesand influence that they have within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.