Mr. Malaythong Kommasith, the Minister of Industry and Commerce received a courtesy call on the matter from a Chinese delegation led by Mr. Li Chenyang, Director General of the Commerce Department of Yunnan Province, China on 20 February.
During the call, the representatives from the two nations focused on ways to boost trade cooperation between Laos and China’s Yunnan Province, with an emphasis on the export of agricultural products from Laos to China.
Mr. Malaythong spoke very highly of the cooperation and assistance from the Government of the People’s Republic of China, noting that the cooperation and assistance represent a strong Lao-China partnership, KPL reports.
China is Laos’ second-largest trading partner, with the two countries clocking in over USD 15.9 billion in bilateral trade from 2018-2022, with an average annual increase of 15.9%.
Main imports into Laos included machinery, electrical appliances, equipment, car parts, and steel.
Whereas exports to China comprised mixed gold, gold bars, gold ores, iron ores, wood and furniture products, paper and paper products, fertilizer (fertilizer), latex, bananas, and other fruits.
Recently, Laos and China reopened the Lanetoui-Jiang Chen international border checkpoint between Phongsaly province and Yunan province in the respective countries, following China’s revised policy on Covid-19 prevention and control.
