China, Laos vow to increase cooperation

China and Laos pledged to further boost cooperation in various sectors to tackle challenges and benefit the people of both countries, as Premier Wen Jiabao met his Laotian counterpart and the country's president in the capital Vientiane on Monday.

Experts said that the cooperation between China and Laos has been enhanced in recent years and the growth in ties is expected to continue.

China and Laos are engaging to promote cooperation, which injects dynamic energy to bilateral ties in different fields, Wen told Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong before the Ninth Asia-Europe Meeting Summit.

Premier Wen Jiabao meets Laotian President and General-Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Choummaly Sayasone in Vientiane on Monday. Li Tao / Xinhua

China and Laos should boost cooperation in areas including agriculture, infrastructure construction, satellite and communication technologies and joint law enforcement along the Mekong River, Wen said.

He urged both countries to achieve consensus and make an action plan for the comprehensive strategic partnership as soon as possible.

Thongsing said Wen's attendance at the Ninth ASEAN Summit, before the upcoming 18th CPC National Congress which was scheduled to start on Thursday, showed the importance he attaches to China-Laos relations and China's support for Laos.

Laos hopes to expand cooperation with China in trade and culture, deepen exchanges in all levels between the two peoples and further learn from China in state governance, Thongsing said.

Like China, Laos is conducting industrialization reform, and the two countries have similar histories and cultures, so China's development experience can help Laos, said Song Yinghui, a researcher on Southeast Asian studies with China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

China and Laos have boosted cooperation in agriculture, which has seen rapid progress and is expected to continue to flourish, she said.

"Meanwhile, China can also benefit from cooperation with Laos, because bilateral cooperation will bring more opportunities to Chinese enterprises who want to do business with Laos," Song said.

"China needs to upgrade it industries and is facing the challenge of industrial transition, so China needs partners like Laos to achieve economic restructuring."

Wen also met Laotian President Choummaly Sayasone on Monday.

China and Laos have kept intensive high-level exchanges in recent years, reached important common understanding and promoted their comprehensive strategic partnership, Wen told the president.

He also urged the two countries to continue to support each other on issues concerning their core interests and expand pragmatic cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, to further strengthen China-Laos ties.

Wen congratulated Laos on hosting the Ninth ASEM Summit and its upcoming accession to the World Trade Organization, which he said reflected Laos' development and openness.

Contact the writers at zhouwa@chinadaily.com.cn and dengzhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn