China, Laos vow closer partnership

BEIJING - China's top political advisor, Yu Zhengsheng, met with visiting Prime Minister of Laos Thongsing Thammavong in Beijing on Friday.

Calling the two countries good neighbors, friends, comrades and partners, Yu said they trust and help each other, and their cooperation have been expanded over the years.

China hopes to maintain high-level exchanges and enhance cooperation with Laos, to consolidate the social basis for bilateral friendship, said Yu, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

He said the CPPCC would like to strengthen exchanges with the Lao Front for National Reconstruction, to contribute to stronger bilateral ties.

Thongsing said the friendship between Laos and China has brought concrete benefits to the two peoples.

The Lao Front for National Reconstruction hopes to cement cooperation with the CPPCC, he said, vowing joint efforts with China to boost bilateral cooperation.

Before traveling to Beijing, Thongsing attended the opening ceremony of the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia on Thursday in Boao, a coastal town in China's southernmost island province of Hainan.