Xi Jinping in Laos: Visit of real and symbolic importance to Southeast Asian nation

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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the capital of Laos, Vientiane, earlier on Monday for a two-day state visit. Laos and China share a border, and already enjoy close relations and strong trade ties. But as Rian Maelzer reports, this trip is set to lift those ties to the next level, to the benefit of both countries.

Chinese president Xi Jinping arrived in the Laotian capital Vientiane from a state visit to neighbouring Hanoi Monday afternoon.

Lao president greeted President Xi Jinping with a welcoming ceremony at the presidential palace, ahead of Xi meeting the previous Lao president and attending a state banquet Monday evening.

Laos-China trade and investment has surged over the past five years, with China involved in real estate development, manufacturing, hydropower, road construction and the expansion of Vientiane's airport, and has become Laos' largest trading partner after neighbour Thailand.

DR. MANA SOUTHICHACK ECONOMIST "There's a symbolic significance in that Laos is a little country and China is a huge country and it's growing in influence, economically politically. For the president of China to visit this country that's very important."

Laos lies at a strategic crossroads, bordering Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and China. As a key part of the Belt and Road initiative, China is building an electrified rail link between Kunming in China's Yunnan province to Vientiane and on to the nearby Thai border.

DR. MANA SOUTHICHACK ECONOMIST "And I think not just the rail system, but other things China and Laos are cooperating on will significantly help this country develop its economy."

RIAN MAELZER VIENTIANE, LAOS "On Tuesday, President Xi is set to conduct a ground breaking ceremony at a hospital being jointly built by Laos and China, meet with Chinese ophthalmologists who are helping Laotian cataract suffers and lay a wreath at the Patuxay War Memorial. RM, CGTN, Vientiane."