Wang Yi meets Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith in Chiang Mai

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday met with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

China and Laos have always supported each other with sincerity and mutual assistance, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Bilateral trade continues to rise, the transportation capacity of the China-Laos railway has reached new heights, people-to-people exchanges have significantly increased, and cooperation in international and regional affairs has become closer, Wang said.

He said China firmly supports Laos in exploring a development path that suits its national conditions, supports Laos in its role as the rotating chair of ASEAN and further enhancing its international and regional influence.

China is willing to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with Laos in various fields, maximize the comprehensive benefits of the China-Laos Railway, jointly address bottlenecks, and accelerate comprehensive development along the railway to serve both countries' respective development and revitalization, according to Wang.

Saleumxay said the rapid development of Lao-Chinese cooperation has played a crucial role in the socioeconomic development of Laos. 

Laos is willing to work with China to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, enhance high-level exchanges, deepen cooperation in connectivity and mineral resources, jointly combat transnational crime, and promote the construction of the Laos-China community with a shared future to achieve more results, benefiting the peoples of both countries, Saleumxay said.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Myanmar issue. 

Wang said Myanmar is a member of the ASEAN family, and China supports ASEAN in strengthening communication and engagement with Myanmar and exploring the alignment and mutual complementarity between ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus and Myanmar's new five-point roadmap to help Myanmar maintain domestic stability. 

China also supports Myanmar in achieving political reconciliation, restoring the process of democratic transition, and maintaining ASEAN's overall unity and regional peace and stability, he added.

Saleumxay appreciated China's constructive role in promoting peace talks in northern Myanmar and political reconciliation within Myanmar, and expressed willingness to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to assist Myanmar in achieving stability and development.