A worker works at the welding base for the China-Laos railway project in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 2, 2019. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)
Building Laos-China community with a shared future brings benefits to Lao and Chinese peoples, said Khenthong Nuanthasing, vice chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lao National Assembly.
by Zhang Jianhua, Chanthaphaphone Mixayboua
VIENTIANE, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Building Laos-China community with a shared future brings benefits to Lao and Chinese peoples, a high-ranking Lao official told Xinhua.
The action plan to jointly build a community with a shared future signed by the top leaders of the two countries in April has brought the bilateral relationship to a higher level, Khenthong Nuanthasing the vice chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee of the country's parliament, the National Assembly (NA), told Xinhua on Friday in Lao capital Vientiane.
"The year of 2019 is the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Laos-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, which also witnessed the inking of the very important political document of the action plan to build Laos-China community with a shared future," said Khenthong, adding that the document is the foundation of the Laos-China relationship in new era and brings more efficient bilateral cooperation.
A Chinese ophthalmologist checks for a patient in Lao capital Vientiane, Nov. 25, 2019. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)
According to the vice chairman, no matter during the wartime or in the country's socialist construction, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), the Lao government and people have received tremendous support and aid from the Communist Party of China, the Chinese government and people.
Khenthong noted that a number of Chinese aid projects to help improve Lao people's livelihood are being implemented and both sides are cooperating extensively in the areas such as personnel training, academic exchanges, exchanges of governance experiences and the rule of law.
Khenthong spoke highly of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He found that the initiative has received supports and responses from many countries and regions.
Chinese volunteer teacher Lin Jieyu interacts with local students at Ban Nongping Elementary School in Vientiane, Laos, March 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)
The Laos-China Railway that is being implemented within the framework of the initiative is of great significance to Laos which is striving for transforming itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub, he said.
The Lao side hopes that the Laos-China Railway will help promote the country's economic and social development, improve the living standards of local people, and enhance cultural and tourism exchanges between the two countries, he added.
In the first three quarters of this year, the Laos has received 757,000 arrivals of Chinese tourists. Khenthong predicted that the number of Chinese tourists to his country will increase significantly after the operation of the Laos-China Railway. ■
