Li's tour significant to East Asia integrity, China-Laos partnership: ambassador

According to Guan, Li will review achievements reached between China and ASEAN with leaders from the 10-nation bloc, summarize constructive experience and raise a series of new Chinese initiatives so as to develop new pillars for bilateral ties, and to take the 25th anniversary of the China-ASEAN dialogue relationship as an opportunity to upgrade China-ASEAN ties and push East Asian cooperation to a new high.

China and Laos, linked by rivers and mountains, have enjoyed a long history of friendship and are "good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners," said Guan

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries 55 years ago, the development of China-Laos relations has withstood tests and scored substantial progress featuring deepened comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, closer high-level exchanges and fruitful achievements from pragmatic cooperation in all sectors, thus benefiting the peoples of the two countries, he said.

Guan noted that the highly compatible strategies between China's initiative on the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (the Belt and Road initiative) and Laos' strategy of turning itself from a "landlocked" country into a "land-linked" country will expand the space for further deepening cooperation between the two sides.

According to the ambassador, China has now become Laos' largest source of foreign investment, largest donor country and the second largest trading partner.

The last year witnessed the laying of the cornerstone for the China-Laos railway, the launch of a communication satellite "LaoSat-1" developed for Laos by China, record high trade volume and deeper cooperation in defense, security, people to people exchanges between the two sides.

The two countries have also enjoyed close cooperation on international and regional affairs and worked together to make positive contributions to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region.

Guan said China believes that Laos, which took over the rotating chair of ASEAN immediately after the establishment of the ASEAN Community on Dec 31, 2015, will play an important role in boosting regional cooperation and maintaining regional peace and stability. China will continue to fully support Laos' role as ASEAN's chair for 2016, he added.