Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for more mutual trust with Vietnam in wake of territory row

Vietnamese and Chinese communist youths wave flags to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at a meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong clap hands at a meeting with Vietnamese and Chinese communist youths in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, looks at Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at a meeting with Vietnamese and Chinese communist youths in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for more mutual trust and cooperation with Vietnam as the two communist neighbors seek to mend ties strained by maritime disputes.

Speaking to youth representatives from the two countries Friday on the last day of his two-day visit, Xi said China and Vietnam should strengthen mutual trust and cooperation for common development.

Xi said China rejects that a country should seek hegemony as it grows, and that it wants to deepen cooperation with countries in the region including Vietnam.

Relations between the two countries plummeted when China parked its oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea last year and the two have since been trying to repair ties with high-level visits.