PR99063

BEIJING, Dec. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Since its launch in December 2021, the China-Laos Railway, a landmark project

connecting Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province with the Lao capital

Vientiane, has demonstrated its advantages and favorable effects in passenger

and freight transportation.

According to the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd. (LCRC), a joint venture based in

Vientiane and responsible for the operation of the railway's Lao section, so

far, the Lao section of the China-Laos Railway has shipped a total of around 2

million tonnes of goods, most of which are cross-border goods, and has carried

1.26 million passengers.

Meeting with visiting Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao

People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao president, Chinese

President Xi Jinping Wednesday said that with joint efforts, the two sides have

made the China-Laos Railway a road of development, happiness and friendship for

the people of the two countries.

Xi said this not only brings great benefits to the people of the two countries,

but also provides a model for the building of the Belt and Road Initiative

(BRI) and promoting the building of a human community with a shared future.

Mourning Comrade Jiang Zemin's death

Xi began by telling Thongloun that Comrade Jiang Zemin passed away earlier in

the day in Shanghai after all medical treatments had failed.

Comrade Jiang was an outstanding leader enjoying high prestige acknowledged by

the whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic

groups, a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, statesman, military

strategist and diplomat, a long-tested communist fighter, and an outstanding

leader of the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He was the

core of the CPC's third generation of central collective leadership and the

principal founder of the Theory of Three Represents, Xi stressed.

Thongloun expressed his deep condolences on the death of Comrade Jiang, saying

that this is a great loss for the CPC and Chinese people, and his Party and Lao

people feel the same way.

Calling Jiang a close friend to the Lao side, Thongloun said Jiang's visit to

Laos in 2000 played an important leading role in the development of Lao-Chinese

relations, as Jiang proposed the principle of long-term stability, good

neighborliness, mutual trust and comprehensive cooperation.

Xi and Thongloun Wednesday reiterated that the two sides firmly uphold this

principle and vowed to uphold the spirit of being good neighbors, friends,

comrades and partners.

Win-win cooperation

In April 2019, China and Laos signed an action plan to jointly build a

community with a shared future. Since then fruitful cooperation results have

been achieved and the China-Laos Railway is a vivid example.

Xi told the Lao president that China will encourage more Chinese enterprises to

invest in Laos, welcome more high-quality products from the Lao side to enter

the Chinese market, and continue to provide assistance to the Lao side to

alleviate the current difficulties it faces.

He added the two sides should continue to expand exchanges and cooperation in

science and technology, education, culture, tourism, health, youth and other

fields as well as promote people-to-people bonds.

Nowadays, China has become the second-largest trading partner and the country

with the largest foreign direct investment in Laos.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, as of February 2022, China has

invested a total of $13.27 billion in various types of investments in Laos.

Within its capacity, China has provided assistance to Laos in the form of

non-reimbursable assistance, interest-free loans or preferential loans in the

fields of materials, complete project assistance, personnel training and

technical support.

China is the mainstay

China is willing to deepen coordination and cooperation with the Lao side

within the framework of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and China-ASEAN cooperation,

promote the common values of humanity and jointly maintain world peace,

stability, development and prosperity, Xi noted.

Thongloun said that under the complex changes the world is experiencing, China

is the mainstay of maintaining world peace and stability and is committed to

promoting common development and building a community with a shared future.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-11-30/Xi-holds-talks-with-Lao-president-1fnZjFTRH1K/index.html

Source: CGTN