Chinese Leaders Greet Newly-Elected Lao CounterpartsChinese Premier Zhu Rongji and Vice President Hu Jintao on Wednesday respectively greeted their newly-elected Lao counterparts, Prime Minister Boungnang Vorachith and Vice President Choummali Sayasone.In a message of congratulation to Vorachith, the Chinese premier, on behalf of the Chinese government and in his own name, congratulated him on his election as the prime minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The Chinese government attaches importance to the traditional friendship between China and Laos and will continue, as always, to develop the good-neighborly relations between the two countries, Zhu said. He believed that during Vorachith's premiership, Laos will make even greater achievements in its opening drive and economic development. In a separate message to Sayasone, Hu said China and Laos are two neighboring countries and the two peoples have long enjoyed a traditional friendship. The good-neighborliness and friendly cooperative relations between the two countries have kept developing in recent years thanks to concerted efforts of the two sides, he said. He expressed the belief that under the guidance of the joint declaration on the bilateral cooperation between China and Laos, which was signed during Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to Laos in November last year, the comprehensive cooperative relations between the two countries, characterized by long-term stability, good-neighborliness and mutual trust, will develop further in the new century. "To this end, I am willing to work with you to make ceaseless efforts so as to benefit the two peoples and to contribute to the peace, stability and development in the region," he said. Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan also congratulated Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad on his re- appointment. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |