On 27 November 2023, Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith of the Lao PDR, on the sidelines of the ACC-sponsored BRI Connecting ASEAN Events in Vientiane.

Secretary General Shi Zhongjun stressed that, with Laos soon taking over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2024, the ACC will, as always, stands ready to join hands with the Lao side to further enhance the building of ASEAN community and raise public awareness of ASEAN, enhance practical cooperation between ASEAN and China in various fields, promote closer people-to-people ties, enrich ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership, and build this region into a highland of development and promising land for cooperation.

Vice Prime Minister Saleumxay warmly welcomed Secretary General Shi visiting Laos and appreciated the ACC for choosing Laos as the venue to host BRI Connecting ASEAN Events. He underlined that, as the rotating ASEAN chair next year, Laos is set to promote community building and enhance cooperation on ASEAN connectivity and resilience. The Lao side will be consistently supporting the ACC in its further endeavors, and looking forward to a bigger role played by the ACC in enhancing regional connectivity, facilitating trade, investment cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between ASEAN and China. 

On the same day, Secretary General Shi also called on Deputy Minister Thongphane Savanphet of Foreign Affairs at the Foreign Ministry of Laos.