CCTV News, 21:43, November 30th, 2022, Beijing

 On November 30th, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and State President, held talks with Thongloun, General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and State President at the Great Hall of the People. Both sides stressed the need to uphold the principle of "long-term stability, good-neighborly and friendly relations, mutual trust and all-round cooperation" and the spirit of "good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners", respect and trust each other politically, benefit each other economically, and deepen mutual understanding and amity in the cultural field, constantly deepen the building of a community with a shared future for China and Laos, and make positive efforts and contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xi Jinping first stated that Comrade Jiang Zemin passed away today in Shanghai due to ineffectual rescue measures for illnesses. Comrade Jiang Zemin was an outstanding leader of the Chinese Party, military and people of all nationalities who enjoyed high prestige, a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, politician, militarist and diplomat, a long-tested communist fighter, an outstanding leader of the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the core of the third generation of the central leadership of the Communist Party of China and the main founder of the important thought of "Three Represents". We deeply mourn the death of Comrade Jiang Zemin and will turn our grief into strength to unite our efforts to build a modern socialist country and promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in accordance with the deployment of the 20th CPC National Congress.

Tongloun expressed his sorrowful condolences for the death of Comrade Jiang Zemin. He said that this is a great loss for the Chinese Party and people, and the Lao Party and people share the same feeling. During his tenure as the main leader of the Party and the State, Comrade Jiang Zemin led the Chinese people to achieve important development achievements and made important contributions to the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Comrade Jiang Zemin, a close friend of the Lao Party and people, put forward the "16-word Policy" during his visit to Laos in 2000, which has played an important leading role in the development of Laos-China relations. The Lao Party, government and people will work together with Chinese comrades to advance the cause of Lao-Chinese friendship forward.

Xi Jinping said that since last year, I have maintained close communication with Comrade Thongloun through various means and reached many important consensuses on the development of China-Laos relations and the building of a community of destiny. I am willing to work with Comrade Thongloun to lead the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Laos to go deeper and deeper and move forward steadily and farther, better benefit the people of the two countries, and promote peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region.

Xi Jinping introduced the main conditions of the 20th CPC National Congress, saying that it elaborated on major issues including opening up a new horizon for the modernization of Marxism in China, proposed the mission and tasks of the CPC in the new era and new journey, and stressed the need to comprehensively build a socialist modern state and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. After a century of struggle, the Communist Party of China has embarked on a new road for the next test. We have the confidence and capability to create new and greater achievements and successfully realize the goals and tasks set by the 20th CPC National Congress.

Xi Jinping stated that since the 11th Congress of the Lao People's Revolution Party, in the face of the complicated and changing international and domestic situation, the LPRP Central Committee has made efforts to strengthen its own construction, adhered to the socialist path that is in line with its own characteristics, and strived to maintain political and social stability and sustained economic development, while making contributions to the maintenance of regional peace and stability and the common interests of developing countries. We believe that under the strong leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee headed by General Secretary Thongloun, the Lao people will surely be able to achieve the goals and tasks proposed at the 11th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. The CPC is willing to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, exchanges and mutual understanding with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, strengthen the confidence in taking the socialist road and jointly explore new pathways for human modernization.

Xi Jinping stressed that China and Laos have connected mountains and waters, and have been kind and good neighbors since ancient times. Since the signing of the action plan on building the China-Laos community with a shared future in April 2019, both sides have concentrated their efforts to promote the construction of the China-Laos Community with a shared future and achieved fruitful results. In particular, both sides have made the China-Laos Railway a road of development, happiness and friendship for the people of China and Laos, which not only brings great benefits to the people of the two countries, but also provide a model for the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the promotion of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Under the new situation, both sides should firmly grasp the right direction of relations between the two countries to ensure that the construction of the China-Laos community with a shared future does not yaw and lose speed; continuously strengthen the security foundation, jointly maintain political security and promote law enforcement security and defense cooperation; deepen the convergence of interests and the connection of development strategies to promote interconnection and coordinated development in the region; and deepen economic, trade and investment exchanges. China will encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in Laos and welcome more quality products from Laos to enter the Chinese market. China will continue to provide assistance to the Lao side to alleviate the current difficulties; continuously expand exchanges and cooperation in science and technology, education, culture, tourism, health, youth and other fields to enhance people-to-people exchanges. China is willing to deepen coordination and cooperation with the Lao side within the framework of the Lancang-Mekong cooperation and China-ASEAN cooperation framework, promote the common values of all mankind, and jointly maintain world peace, stability, development and prosperity.

Thongloun stated that the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is a major event in China's new era and has an important impact on the world development. At a time when the world is undergoing complex changes, China is the mainstay of maintaining world peace and stability and is committed to promoting common human development and building a community with a shared future for mankind. I believe that under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, China will surely be able to fully implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress and the objectives and tasks established at the 20th Congress, and achieve the second century goal as scheduled.

Thongloun expressed his gratitude to China for its long-standing and valuable support and assistance for Lao's economic and social development, saying that the Laos-China traditional friendship has been lasting for a long time and the political mutual trust has been deepened, especially since the signing of the Action Plan for Laos-China Community with a Shared Future in 2019, both sides have seriously implemented the plan, and cooperation in various fields has been expanded and deepened, and important Chinese aid projects in Laos have been successfully promoted, especially, the completion of the Laos-China Railway has played an important role in promoting the economic development of the country. It is hoped that the two parties, relevant departments and institutions of the two countries will strengthen mutual contacts and exchanges in governance, consolidate and deepen cooperation in security and defense, strengthen pragmatic cooperation in economic, trade and investment, more organically connect the "Belt and Road" initiative with the Lao strategy of "turning a land-locked country into a land-linked country", strengthen mutual understanding and humanistic exchanges between the people of the two countries, and promote greater development of Lao-Chinese relations.

After the talks, Xi Jinping and Tongloun jointly witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in the fields of political parties, economy and trade, finance, culture and education, and localities.

Wang Yi, He Lifeng, among others, participated in the above activities.