Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visiting Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong pledged to establish transport connections between the two countries during a meeting in Sanya in Hainan province.
An inter-governmental agreement on the building of a trans-border railway connection from Vientiane to China is in the pipeline.
Li highlighted the agreement as an all-important deal between Laos and China, a part of the ongoing cooperative effort of the two neighbors.
Premier Thongsing says his nation, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN), is looking forward to the high speed rail project, to further enhance the cooperation.
Both Prime Ministers were in agreement that the discussions should be speeded up to enable the railway project to become a reality soon.
China is currently implementing various long-term development plans involving high speed rail lines across the country and into key trading partners.
As the world's second largest economy, China aims to take advantage of its current upswing economic phase to link up with key trading partners.
Laos is currently emerging from its tempered economic growth that resulted from political turmoil in the last few years.
Vientiane's membership in the ASEAN, one of China's major trading partners, serves as strategic asset to allow Laos to become the gateway for China-ASEAN trade.
The initial phase of the speed rail will connect the Chinese provincial capital of Yunnan into the Laotian capital under a loan extended by the Export-Import Bank of China.
The two leaders will also attend the on-going Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference that was founded in 2011 as a gathering of non-government and non-profit organizations dedicated to leading Asian countries into accomplishing goals through regional cooperation.
Frankly speaking, laos' rail network will be totally useless for China if it's not connected with Thailand that Chinese can send their goods down to the Thai gulf or Andaman sea.
it makes no sense to connect with the landlocked, unable to self-produced and poor country like Laos.
Laos and China have confirmed they will push forward with the Lao-Chinese railway project while the two countries are still looking for an effective method of cooperation that serves their mutual interest.
Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang made the confirmation at the Lao-Chinese high-level bilateral meeting held on Tuesday in the Chinese city of Sanya, Hainan province.
Mr Li Keqiang ( left ) accompanies Mr Thongsing Thammavong to inspect the guard of honour on his arrival in Sanya city. -- Photo Khamphanh
Mr Thongsing and his delegation are on a visit to China and will attend an annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) this week.
The Lao and Chinese governments have come up with a plan to build the 421km railway, which would link Vientiane to the Laos-China border in the coming years.
Under the original plan, China was to fund 70 percent of the project, which was to kick off in 2011 and be finished by 2015. However, the project was delayed after a Chinese construction company reportedly pulled out.
At the meeting in Hainan, the two prime ministers pledged for the two sides to launch renewed negotiations on the project.
Prime Minister Li conveyed the importance of the railway project in terms of bilateral cooperation on major projects, saying that China will seek an early signing of the deal in order to lay the foundation for cooperation.
At the meeting, the two sides discussed methods of implementing the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
China is ranked first among investors in Laos with a total investment volume of US$6 billion, spreading across 749 projects in mining, electric power, agriculture, processing industries, and services. The trade volume between the two countries was estimated at US$2.7 billion last year.
T he Lao side also suggested that China should expand its investment in hydro and lignite power plants as well as provide loans for irrigation development in the central provinces in order to ensure food security in Laos.
They also announced they were willing to cooperate in the field of technology with the Lao side, proposing Chinese cooperation on Internet piracy regulation and in the E-government sector. They will also upgrade security measures along the Mekong River and fight against all forms of transnational crimes.
The Lao side proposed that China expand the provision of scholarships to students from Laos.
The two prime ministers also witnessed the signing of exchange notes on Chinese assistance in implementing the project on automatic banking payment systems.
Laos and China have confirmed they will push forward with the Lao-Chinese railway project while the two countries are still looking for an effective method of cooperation that serves their mutual interest.
Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang made the confirmation at the Lao-Chinese high-level bilateral meeting held on Tuesday in the Chinese city of Sanya, Hainan province.
Mr Li Keqiang ( left ) accompanies Mr Thongsing Thammavong to inspect the guard of honour on his arrival in Sanya city. -- Photo Khamphanh
Mr Thongsing and his delegation are on a visit to China and will attend an annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) this week.
The Lao and Chinese governments have come up with a plan to build the 421km railway, which would link Vientiane to the Laos-China border in the coming years.
Under the original plan, China was to fund 70 percent of the project, which was to kick off in 2011 and be finished by 2015. However, the project was delayed after a Chinese construction company reportedly pulled out.
At the meeting in Hainan, the two prime ministers pledged for the two sides to launch renewed negotiations on the project.
Prime Minister Li conveyed the importance of the railway project in terms of bilateral cooperation on major projects, saying that China will seek an early signing of the deal in order to lay the foundation for cooperation.
At the meeting, the two sides discussed methods of implementing the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
China is ranked first among investors in Laos with a total investment volume of US$6 billion, spreading across 749 projects in mining, electric power, agriculture, processing industries, and services. The trade volume between the two countries was estimated at US$2.7 billion last year.
T he Lao side also suggested that China should expand its investment in hydro and lignite power plants as well as provide loans for irrigation development in the central provinces in order to ensure food security in Laos.
They also announced they were willing to cooperate in the field of technology with the Lao side, proposing Chinese cooperation on Internet piracy regulation and in the E-government sector. They will also upgrade security measures along the Mekong River and fight against all forms of transnational crimes.
The Lao side proposed that China expand the provision of scholarships to students from Laos.
The two prime ministers also witnessed the signing of exchange notes on Chinese assistance in implementing the project on automatic banking payment systems.
Laos and China have confirmed they will push forward with the Lao-Chinese railway project while the two countries are still looking for an effective method of cooperation that serves their mutual interest.
Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang made the confirmation at the Lao-Chinese high-level bilateral meeting held on Tuesday in the Chinese city of Sanya, Hainan province.
Mr Li Keqiang ( left ) accompanies Mr Thongsing Thammavong to inspect the guard of honour on his arrival in Sanya city. -- Photo Khamphanh
Mr Thongsing and his delegation are on a visit to China and will attend an annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) this week.
The Lao and Chinese governments have come up with a plan to build the 421km railway, which would link Vientiane to the Laos-China border in the coming years.
Under the original plan, China was to fund 70 percent of the project, which was to kick off in 2011 and be finished by 2015. However, the project was delayed after a Chinese construction company reportedly pulled out.
At the meeting in Hainan, the two prime ministers pledged for the two sides to launch renewed negotiations on the project.
Prime Minister Li conveyed the importance of the railway project in terms of bilateral cooperation on major projects, saying that China will seek an early signing of the deal in order to lay the foundation for cooperation.
At the meeting, the two sides discussed methods of implementing the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
China is ranked first among investors in Laos with a total investment volume of US$6 billion, spreading across 749 projects in mining, electric power, agriculture, processing industries, and services. The trade volume between the two countries was estimated at US$2.7 billion last year.
T he Lao side also suggested that China should expand its investment in hydro and lignite power plants as well as provide loans for irrigation development in the central provinces in order to ensure food security in Laos.
They also announced they were willing to cooperate in the field of technology with the Lao side, proposing Chinese cooperation on Internet piracy regulation and in the E-government sector. They will also upgrade security measures along the Mekong River and fight against all forms of transnational crimes.
The Lao side proposed that China expand the provision of scholarships to students from Laos.
The two prime ministers also witnessed the signing of exchange notes on Chinese assistance in implementing the project on automatic banking payment systems.