Beijing:
China's top diplomat will visit Vietnam this week, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, amid an increasingly ugly spat over a Chinese oil rig in the disputed South China Sea.
China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who outranks the foreign minister, will visit Hanoi on Wednesday, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing.
It will be the highest level direct contact between the two sides since the rig began its operations in May.
© Thomson Reuters 2014