Economic and trade relations between China and Laos have been developing constantly with great achievements in such fields as trade and investment for over half a century since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Now China is the second largest trade partner, the largest foreign investor, and the largest aid provider of Laos, and Laos is the third largest destination of China's investment in ASEAN countries.
With China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy of "turning itself from a land-locked country into a land-linked country" providing constant motive force to trade and economic cooperation, the two countries have carried out a series of fruitful cooperation in mutual connectivity, energy, construction of economic zones, etc. Such major cooperative projects as China-Laos Railway, Nam Ou River Hydropower Station, Saysettha Development Zone, Mohan-Boten Economic Zone, Ground Station for "Lao Sat-1" have not only created jobs and increased revenue for relevant regions, but also brought about benefits to Laos' long term development, becoming the new engine of economic growth.
With high degree matching and complementarity in geographical position, society and culture, as well as economical features and development strategy, the two countries have a broad prospect for cooperation, offering a lot of investment opportunities for their enterprises.
1) With domestic peace and stability, Laos has extensive room for development. Its economy has maintained a medium-high growth in the recent years. Its 7.02 percent growth rate of 2016 is not only much higher than the average global figure but also above the 6.5 percent average of the emerging Asian economies. Laos has the potential for medium-high growth in the future, which means stable environment and many opportunities for investment.
2) The accelerated alignment of the development strategies of the two countries has provided broad prospects for their trade and economic cooperation. China and Laos are comprehensive strategic cooperation partners. During the state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Laos in November 2017, the two countries reached agreement on further deepening their strategic alignment. In the future they will carry out extensive practical cooperation under the framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative and "13th Five-Year Plan", and Laos' state policies of "turning itself from a land-locked country into a land-linked country", the "Eighth Five-Year Plan", and "Building Laos into the battery of Southeast Asia".
3) The two neighbors have strong economic complementarity with similar culture and easy communication. Being in the medium stage of industrialization, China has its equipment level at the middle of the global industrial chain with high performance-cost ratio, and its export is mainly capital intensive and technology intensive. Laos is still in the initial stage of industrialization and is in urgent need of China's capital, technology, and talents.
At present, there are considerable potentials for investment between the two countries in agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, tourism, etc. The construction and opening to traffic of the China-Laos railway will further promote bilateral cooperation in construction material, service industry, logistics, catering, ecological agriculture, as well as processing, mining, light industry etc.
In his article " China and Laos: Working Together for a Community with Shared Future and Strategic Significance" published in the Laotian media, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the creation of four communities of shared future: to strengthen strategic communication and build a community of shared future based on mutual respect and mutual trust; to enhance the complementarity of development strategies and build a community of shared future through mutual assistance; to expand practical cooperation and build a community of shared future for mutual benefit; to increase people-to-people exchange and build a community of shared future featuring mutual learning
With the acceleration of strategic alignment, pragmatic cooperation between China and Laos is already in the fast lane, which is sure to open bright prospects for multi-field cooperation between the two countries.
Report on China-Laos cooperation opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative in 2018.pdf
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