At the invitation of the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC), a delegation of Laos led by Bouasone Bouphavanh, the head of the country's National Economic Research Institute (NERI) and former prime minister, visited China from July 15 to 19.

Ma Jiantang, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group of DRC, meets with Bouasone Bouphavanh. [photo/drc.gov.cn]

During his visit, Bouasone held discussions with Ma Jiantang, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group of DRC, and Wang Anshun, Vice-President of DRC, and met with Xiao Yaqing, Administrator of the State Administration for Market Regulation, Chen Zhaoxiong, Vice-Minister of Industry and Information Technology, and Han Jun, Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Wang Anshun(right), Vice-President of DRC, meets with Bouasone Bouphavanh. [photo/drc.gov.cn]

The delegation aims to promote the construction of the China-Laos Economic Corridor under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the areas of infrastructure interconnectivity, production capacity cooperation, quality supervision, agricultural cooperation and digital economy.

During the talks, Bouasone exchanged views with Ma on the construction of the China-Laos Economic Corridor and future cooperation between DRC and NERI.

Xiao Yaqing, Administrator of the State Administration for Market Regulation, meets with Bouasone Bouphavanh. [photo/drc.gov.cn]

During the meeting with Xiao, they discussed the infrastructure construction of national quality supervision, strengthening cooperation between China and Laos in the field of certification and accreditation, and enhancing market supervision.

Bouasone and Chen exchanged views on the planning of the industrial clusters of the China-Laos Economic Corridor and cooperation between China and Laos in digital economy.

The meeting of Bouasone and Han focused on the planning and research of biological seed industrial clusters, the cultivation of new crop varieties, the development of agricultural cooperatives, smart agriculture, modern agricultural industrial parks, and the expansion of agricultural imports under the frameworks of cooperation between ASEAN and China, between ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea, as well as among Lancang-Mekong countries.