General

The current enhancement of cooperation between China and Laos is conducive to jointly coping with the unfavorable factors in the international situation and the global economy, jointly developing business opportunities for cooperation between the two countries, and helping the common development of international trade.

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and President Thongloun Thongloun was invited to pay a state visit to China from November 29 to December 1. In this regard, the reporter interviewed Xu Ningning, executive chairman of the China-ASEAN Business Council and chairman of the RCEP Industrial Cooperation Committee. Xu Ningning said that China and Laos, which are connected by mountains and rivers, have established an unbreakable relationship. It is believed that this high-level visit will promote the construction of a community with a shared future between the two sides into a new stage of development.

Laos implements a socialist system. On the occasion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party immediately congratulated the opening of the conference, and General Secretary Thongloun immediately sent a warm congratulatory message to General Secretary Xi Jinping. Recently, Thongloun pointed out that Laos and China are connected by mountains and rivers, and the two countries have a tradition of brotherly and friendly exchanges since ancient times. In recent years, the Laos-China community of shared future has laid a solid foundation for the continuous development of the unbreakable relationship of friends, comrades and brothers between the two countries.

Xu Ningning said that China and Laos live as neighbors and have been friendly for generations. In 2000, the two countries determined to develop a comprehensive cooperative relationship featuring long-term stability, good-neighborly friendship and mutual trust. In 2009, the relationship between China and Laos was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. Ten years later, in 2019, the two countries signed the Action Plan on Building a China-Laos Community with a Shared Future. In the past nine years of jointly building the "Belt and Road", the cooperation between the two countries has been active and fruitful. The opening of the China-Laos Railway in 2021 is a major milestone for the development of bilateral relations and will become an important support for regional connectivity. The two countries continue to deepen cooperation in the Lancang-Mekong sub-region. In the past three years, the two countries have supported each other and cooperated in the fight against the epidemic, reflecting the profound friendship between lips and teeth.

Xu Ningning said that the economic and trade complementarity between the two countries is strong. In 2021, China-Laos trade will grow by 21.4%. From January to August this year, the trade volume between China and Laos increased by 23.9% year-on-year, of which China's international trade exports to Laos increased by 35.7% year-on-year, and China's international trade imports from Laos increased by 16.6% year-on-year. At present, China is the second largest trading partner of Laos and the largest source of investment in Laos.

Xu Ningning mentioned that the World Bank predicted in October that Laos' economic growth would be 2.5% this year. In October this year, the inflation rate in Laos reached 36.7% (the inflation rate in September was 34.5%). The current enhancement of cooperation between China and Laos is conducive to jointly coping with the unfavorable factors in the international trade situation and the global economy, jointly developing business opportunities for cooperation between the two countries, and contributing to common development. In the regional opening brought about by the implementation of the RCEP agreement, the promotion of the upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, and the creation of the Lancang-Mekong Economic Development Belt, China and Laos have great potential for cooperation. There are many new business opportunities for cooperation in fields such as mining, mineral resource development, manufacturing development, digital economy and green economy development. The China-ASEAN Business Council and the RCEP Industrial Cooperation Committee are working with the Lao embassy in China, the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other relevant Lao institutions to promote the new development of China-Laos international trade cooperation.