China and Laos vowed on Tuesday to make concerted efforts to
further cooperation and push forward bilateral all-round friendly
and cooperative relations to "a new level".
During talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Laotian counterpart Choummaly
Sayasone, the two sides both spoke highly of relations between the
two countries and the two ruling parties.
"The traditional friendship between China and Laos has
progressed well and the two sides have done a lot of work to
substantially promote the ties in the new century", Hu said.
Hu acknowledged that the two sides have maintained high-level
exchanges and made remarkable achievement in cooperation in various
fields and at various levels.
"The two sides have established good coordination on
international and regional issues and the relations between the two
countries and two parties demonstrate a strong momentum of growth,"
Hu highlighted.
Choummaly extended his congratulations on the 85th anniversary
of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), expressing his
hope that the Chinese people, under the CPC leadership, will make
great achievements in the construction of a harmonious socialist
society.
Laos and China share traditional friendship and in the past 30
years since the establishment of Laos, the country has always
received selfless support and help from the Chinese people and the
CPC, which is deeply appreciated by the Laotian side, Choummaly
said.
The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (PRP) and the Laotian
government will always regard the Chinese government and the CPC as
a reliable friend and comrade with shared ideals, Choummaly
said.
Hu said that the CPC and the Chinese government attach great
importance to the ties with Laos and are willing to make joint
efforts with Laos to maintain high-level exchanges, promote
bilateral exchange and cooperation in the various fields such as
national defense, public security, crackdown on drug trafficking,
education and tourism.
China will further the bilateral economic and trade cooperation
with Laos especially in fields of agriculture, mining industry and
infrastructure construction, Hu said.
"We support the border provinces of the two countries to forge
cooperation in various forms, encourage Chinese enterprises to
invest in Laos and welcome Laotian businessmen to expand economic
and trade relations with China," Hu said.
The Chinese president also pledged to strengthen bilateral
cooperation under multilateral frameworks including the United
Nations, China-ASEAN, East Asia Summit and the Development of the
Great Mekong Sub-region.
Agreeing with Hu's proposals on the development of bilateral
relations, Choummaly expressed his willingness to foster the
tradition of maintaining high-level exchanges with China and cement
friendly cooperation in human resources, trade, tourism and public
security.
Laos will consolidate the bilateral coordination and cooperation
in the regional and international affairs and achieve more progress
in the bilateral relations in the new era, Choummaly added.
The two presidents also briefed each other on the domestic
situations of the two countries. Hu said that China supports Lao's
development on the path of socialism and the country's reform and
opening up process.
"We support efforts made by Laos to develop its national economy
and we believe the Laotian government and its people, under the
leadership of the LPRP (Lao People's Revolutionary Party), will
make great achievements in their national construction", Hu
said.
Choummaly said that China has made remarkable achievements in
their national construction under the CPC's leadership,
highlighting that Chinese economy has maintained rapid growth, the
living standard of the Chinese people continually raised and
China's influence over regional and international issues further
strengthened, which showcases the wise decisions made by the CPC
leadership and advantages of socialism with Chinese
characteristics.
All these factors are of huge encouragement to the Laotian
people and Laos will learn from these experiences of China,
Choummaly stressed.
The two sides also exchanged views extensively on the
international and regional issues and reached comprehensive common
understanding.
(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2006)