Jiang's Visit -- Great Event in History of Lao-Chinese Ties

Chinese President Jiang Zemin's upcoming state visit to Laos will certainly become "a great event in the history of Lao-Chinese ties," said Khamtay Siphandone, president of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

"This visit is very important for enhancing mutual understanding and further promoting the traditional friendly relations and cooperation between Laos and China," the Lao president told Chinese reporters in an interview Thursday.

"The visit will not only bring the Chinese people's deepest fraternity and strongest support to the Lao people, but will also strengthen the regional and global peace, cooperation and development," he stressed.

The ever-growing friendly ties and all-around cooperation between the two ruling parties, the two countries and the two peoples, which are "totally in conformity with the aspirations and interests of both sides," are continuously yielding positive results in all fields, the top Lao leader said.

For example, Khamtay said that the bilateral trade, which is conducted mostly in border areas between the two countries, is developing rapidly. "The Lao-Chinese cooperation and exchange in personnel, tourism, culture, education and other aspects, are also expanding steadily and constantly."

Predicting a "brighter future" for the bilateral cooperation, he said the two countries now have all the advantages and potentials to push the cooperation to higher levels continuously. "That is because we have the traditional ties of mutual support and unity which can be traced back to ancient times, the common ideals, the common frontiers and the various fields where we can complement each other."

Asked about his impression of China, Khamtay, who has visited China frequently during past decades as a long-time friend, said that China's development is so rapid that he can surely find many new changes every time he goes there.

"During the 51 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially in the recent over 20 years after China's adoption of the reform and opening-up policy, the country has been transformed from being poor and undeveloped into a fast-growing world power which is strong in every aspect," he said.

Khamtay said that being economically strong, socially and politically stable, China is playing an increasing role in the international arena, which will help build a new world order of peace, cooperation, development and equality.

He said his country will support China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), which, in his opinion, will help promote the spirit of equality and mutual benefits in the international trade system.

"China's experience has set a good example for us in constructing and developing our country," he noted.

The recent 25 years after the founding of the Lao People's Democratic Republic have witnessed overall improvements and developments in social, economic and other aspects of the country, he said.

"Those achievements are made after we overcame all the difficulties, geographical, historical, and, more recently, the Asian crisis," he said, pointing to the continuous growth of the country's Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and the constant increase of agricultural and industrial production.

"We have realized that we could not have achieved those successes alone without the help of friendly countries, especially China, " he said.

On the Taiwan issue, Khamtay reiterated that the Lao government will always stick to the "One China" policy and said that the "One Country, Two Systems" policy is an innovation and will certainly achieve great success.

"Laos will always regard China as a reliable strategic partner, and I am sure that president Jiang's visit will further consolidate and promote our friendly relations and cooperation," the top Lao leader said.



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