The upcoming visit to China by Vietnam's ruling party chief will send a strong signal of stabilizing the South China Sea situation this year and help manage maritime problems, observers said.

Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, will make an official visit to China from Thursday to Sunday, the Communist Party of China's International Department announced on Sunday.

The trip will be Trong's first to China since his re-election as Vietnam's Communist Party chief in January last year. Trong and his counterpart Xi Jinping last exchanged visits in 2015.