On 27 November 2023, Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) met with Vice President Sommad Pholsena of the Lao National Assembly in Vientiane.

Secretary General Shi thanked Vice President Sommad for his great support to the ASEAN-China Week (ACW) 2023 Events held in Fuzhou last August, and briefed him on the successful BRI Connecting ASEAN Events held in Vientiane on the same day. He reiterated the ACC’s willingness to support the Lao side taking over the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN in 2024, and looked forward to more support and cooperation from the Lao National Assembly in the ACC’s future endeavors, so as to secure closer and stronger ASEAN-China and Laos-China relations.Vice President Sommad warmly congratulated the ACC on the successes in hosting both the ACW 2023 Events as well as the BRI Connecting ASEAN Events, and committed his personal support to the programs and activities to be sponsored by the ACC under the framework of 2024 ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchanges and Visit Laos Year 2024.