1st LD Writethru: Chinese premier to visit Laos, attend East Asia Summit

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will visit Laos and attend the 11th East Asia Summit in Vientiane next week at the invitation of his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.

Hua Chunying said Li will also attend the 19th China-ASEAN (10+1) leaders' meeting, a summit marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, and the 19th ASEAN-China, Japan and Republic of Korea (10+3) leaders' meeting from Sept. 6 to 9.

She said at a daily news briefing that Li's attendance at the East Asian leaders' meetings will promote China-ASEAN ties and enhance regional cooperation.

The Chinese side stands ready to work with ASEAN to hold a successful summit and take the 25th anniversary of dialogue relations as an opportunity to build a closer China-ASEAN community of common destiny, Hua said.

"We expect the East Asian cooperation meetings to focus on development, and push forward cooperation in such areas as finance, capacity, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, free trade area construction, and non-traditional security," the spokesperson said.

As China's good neighbor and an important member and the rotating chair of ASEAN, China attaches great importance to the development of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation, she said.

This year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of China-Laos diplomatic ties, Hua said, noting that both sides have maintained frequent high-level exchanges, cemented political mutual trust and achieved fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation.

She said it will be the first visit made by Premier Li to Laos, and he will hold talks with Thongloun and exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of common concern.

Li's visit will bring the China-Laos comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation to a new high and bring more benefits to both peoples, Hua added. Endi