People's Daily reporter Zhao Yipu Chen Shangwen

"Laos is a good neighbor, good friend, good comrade and good partner of China." Laos Vice Premier Jicho said in an interview with our reporter that in recent years, under the framework of high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and ASEAN-China cooperation, cooperation between Laos and China has continuously made new progress and new achievements in various fields, which has truly benefited the people of the two countries. In the future, "Laos-China relations will surely be closer."

As a landmark project for the two countries to jointly build the "Belt and Road" with high quality, the China-Laos Railway was officially opened and operated in December 2021. In the first half of this year, the China-Laos Railway sent a total of 10.07 million passengers, an increase of 1.7% year-on-year; the total number of goods transported across the line exceeded 12.6 million tons, an increase of 25.9% year-on-year, and the role of the "golden channel" is becoming increasingly prominent. Jicho said that the Lao-China Railway is an important achievement of pragmatic cooperation between the two sides. Since its opening, it has been an important channel for passenger and freight transportation between Laos and China, promoting regional economic and trade cooperation and driving the accelerated development of the economy along the route.

Jicho believes that the Lao-China Railway not only promotes Lao-China cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, but also promotes the smooth implementation of large-scale cooperation projects in Laos. "Thanks to the dividends released by the Lao-China Railway, overseas investors are more confident in Laos. The Lao government and the World Bank and other partners are studying and carrying out national highway projects connecting Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as highway projects connecting Laos' capital Vientiane and Ganmeng, Polykanse and other places." Jicho said.

According to Ji Qiao, Laos and China will continue to develop the 500 kV/230 kV Vientiane Ring Network transmission and transformation of Laos, Vientiane Saiseta Comprehensive Development Zone, Laos China Moding-Mohan Economic Cooperation Zone, Laos Second, Third, Fourth Phases, and Tanaleng Land Port, Laos Tanaleng Land Port and other projects to jointly build the "Belt and Road" project to meet the needs of economic and social development. "Laos is in a period of rapid development. More Chinese companies are welcome to visit and invest in Laos to benefit the people of both countries through closer cooperation between Laos and China." Ji Qiao said.

In May this year, the special meeting of China-ASEAN Ministers of Economic and Trade was held online, and the ministers of economic and trade between the two sides jointly announced the full completion of the 3.0 version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone negotiations. "The 3.0 version of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Zone conforms to the trend of regional economic integration and will expand economic and trade exchanges and investment cooperation between ASEAN and China." Ji Qiao said that the 3.0 version of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Zone will further deepen the cooperation between the two sides in the fields of supply chain integration, digital economy, green economy, etc.

"China has a vibrant and super-large-scale market, which has contributed to driving regional economic growth. In recent years, ASEAN and China have jointly implemented the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with high quality. The economic and trade relations between the two sides have developed steadily and are each other's largest trading partners." Jiggio said that the current world economy is weak, and ASEAN countries, including Laos, should continue to deepen cooperation with China, benefit the people of both sides, and make greater contributions to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity.