Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang mount diplomatic offensive in Southeast Asia

The diplomatic manoeuvrings by the top two Chinese leaders over the past two weeks in Southeast Asian nations saw Beijing reshaping its priorities towards its mostly wary neighbours.

In the absence of US President Barack Obama, who chose to stay at home to deal with the government's shutdown crisis, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang came under particularly close scrutiny in their separate trips to five Southeast Asian nations.

One of Beijing's achievements was the agreement reached after talks between Li and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, on Sunday to form a working group to jointly explore the disputed waters in the South China Sea.

There were no concrete details about how such a project would proceed, but observers said securing the agreement with Vietnam - one of the two strongest claimants to the disputed areas, along with the Philippines - indicated that Beijing's recent tactics had paid off.

"This is a positive result, and the long-term impact of it will need to be observed," said Yu Xiangdong , director of the Institute of Vietnam Studies at Zhengzhou University.

Beijing had previously called for claimant countries to set aside their disputes by looking towards joint exploration of the waters, but Beijing's increased surveillance of the area has triggered fears about the China's growing assertiveness and military might.