Xi urges young citizens to advance China-Laos ties

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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday met with members of a Lao family, who enjoy a time-honored friendship with China, urging the family's younger generation to carry the torch forward.

Quinim Pholsena, who served as the Foreign Minister of the Laos from 1962 to 1963, is a founder and witness of the China-Laos friendship. Some of his descendants lived in China in the 1960s, and studied in the same school with Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Xi said he is delighted to reunite once again with old schoolmates and friends. He spoke highly of the contributions made by the Pholsena family to the friendship between China and Laos, calling them a "good and old friend" of China.

President Xi Jinping meets with the Pholsena family. /Xinhua Photo‍

Knowing the culture and history of both countries, the Pholsena family has served as an ambassador and a bridge to the two countries’ friendship, said Xi, while urging the descendants of the family to keep the good traditions established by the former leaders and carry on the bond.

It is the first time in seven years that the Chinese president met with his old friends. In June 2010, while visiting the country, he squeezed in time during his 23-hour stay for a reunion.

Xi told the Pholsena family members that during his state visit to the Laos, he has reached new important consensus with the Lao leaders on deepening bilateral cooperation and building a community of shared future with strategic significance.

Laos is an "iron friend" of China, said Xi, adding that the two countries have enjoyed broad space for future cooperation.

CGTN Photo

The Chinese president also pinned high hopes on the young generations of the Pholsena family, stressing that the youth represents the hope of the socialist causes of both countries and the future of the China-Laos friendship.

The Pholsenas, excited to meet with Xi, congratulated him on being re-elected as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, saying that as Xi's schoolmates they have always been closely following China's development.

They added that they are touched by the fact that Xi, although being the leader of a major country, cares about old friends so much, and that they are determined to contribute to further consolidating the friendship between the two nations.

They also conveyed their wish that the Chinese people will realize their strategic goals at an early date.

The stories about the friendship between China and Quinim Pholsena’s family are widely known in both countries. After Quinim Pholsena was assassinated in 1963, the Chinese leaders accommodated his wife and nine children in Beijing. They had been studying in several Beijing schools until returned to Laos in 1970.

President Xi Jinping arrived in Vientiane on Monday to start his state visit to Laos. Prior to the visit, he also attended the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, and paid a state visit to the country.

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(With inputs from Xinhua)