Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with Thongsing Thammavong, president of the National Assembly of Laos in Vientiane, capital of Laos, Nov. 20, 2006. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    VIENTIANE, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Lao National Assembly President Thongsing Thammavong here on Monday, and the two discussed efforts to promote bilateral ties and cooperation.

    China and Laos have been friendly neighbors since ancient times, and recent years have witnessed the all-around development of the relationship between the two countries and two parties, Hu said.

    The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government stand ready to work with their Lao counterparts to promote their all-around cooperative relations of long-term stability, good-neighborliness and mutual trust to a new height, said Hu, who is also the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

    For his part, Thongsing said President Hu's current visit would consolidate the foundation of Laos-China ties, boost their friendly and all-around cooperation and bring bilateral relations to a new stage of development.

    Noting that China's National People's Congress (NPC) and the Lao National Assembly face the same task of fostering socialist democracy and strengthening the socialist legal system in their respective countries, Hu said it was important for the two sides to increase exchanges.

    Lauding the existing good cooperative ties between the Lao National Assembly and China's NPC, Thongsing expressed the hope that the two sides would expand exchanges and maintain the high-level exchange of visits by the legislative bodies of the two countries.

    Hu arrived here earlier Sunday afternoon from Vietnam where he paid a state visit and attended the 14th APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam.

    The Laos is the second leg of Hu's four-nation tour, which will also take him to India and Pakistan.

    Also on Monday, Hu met with Khamtay Siphandone, the former Lao president and former president of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party.