Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday called for efforts to achieve new progress in cooperation between China and Laos under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 

Wang made the remarks during a meeting with Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith via video link. The China-Laos railway, a flagship BRI project connecting Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province with the Laotian capital of Vientiane, went into operation on Friday. Wang called the day a "big day" and "good day" in China-Laos relations. 

The 1,035-kilometer-long railway is a docking project between the China-proposed BRI and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. 

Read more: 

Xi Jinping, Thongloun jointly witness opening of China-Laos railway

Graphics: China-Laos railway illustrated

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Laos diplomatic ties and is also the Year of China-Laos Friendship.

Wang said the two countries should maintain high-level strategic communication and jointly improve their governance capability. The two sides should work together to ensure the operation and maintenance of the railway, promote comprehensive development along the route, and strive to maximize its economic and social effect, he added. Wang also called on the two sides to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields. 

Expressing pride in the inauguration of the railway, Saleumxay described it as a "valuable present" that the Chinese people gave the Lao people. The railway has made a long-standing dream of Laos come true, he stressed. 

Saleumxay said Laos agrees that the two countries should strengthen strategic communication, maintain solidarity and mutual trust, and firmly oppose interference by external forces.