General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith arrived in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, on Tuesday for a five-day state visit running from June 2 to June 6.

The first afternoon of the Lao top leader's China visit in Hangzhou, the hub city of Chinese cutting-edge robotics and e-commerce, was packed with rich hands-on experiences of China's technological progress, Global Times reporters observed in close distance. The visit demonstrates the immense potential for future cooperation between the two sides in industrial upgrading.

According to the Lao News Agency on May 30, the visit aims to further strengthen the longstanding friendship and cooperation between Laos and China and advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

It is also expected to promote closer bilateral relations and enhance cooperation across various areas of mutual interest, contributing to the continued development of Laos-China ties.

From 2021 to 2026, Thongloun served as Lao president and he was re-elected president at the first session of the 10th Lao National Assembly in March 2026, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The year 2026 also marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Laos as well as the Year of China-Laos Friendship, Xinhua reported in April.

Highlighting that the visit comes at such significant juncture, Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute of Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times that it will further advance bilateral relations. The important consensus reached by the leaders of both sides will strongly guide the continued development of China-Laos friendly relations, Gu added.

Global Times reporters observed on Tuesday afternoon that shortly after his arrival in tech center Hangzhou, Thongloun visited Deep Robotics, leading Chinese robotics company specializing in quadruped (four-legged) robots, where he viewed a variety of robots. He then moved outdoors to watch performances by robots and robot dogs, including somersaults, running, and sprinting.

During the visit to Deep Robotics, Thongloun watched a robot demonstration. A robot later approached him and placed a small plush toy into his hands as a gift. After receiving it, he smiled and expressed his thanks in Chinese, drawing warm responses from those present, Global Times reporter observed on site.

Thongloun also tried operating a robot dog himself, successfully making it roll over. He ended the interaction by waving goodbye to the robot dog.

Thongloun then visited China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, where he reviewed the company's development history and its global data center.

The Alibaba guide spoke about China-Laos trade and e-commerce cooperation before Thongloun had an engaging interaction with a digital human. When the guide asked, "Who is the president of Laos?" in Chinese, the digital human accurately gave his name. Upon hearing the answer, Thongloun laughed, and those around him applauded.

In recent years, Hangzhou has vigorously developed the digital economy and intelligent industries, making it one of China's leading innovation hubs. This choice of stops shows that while Laos continues to value traditional trade and investment cooperation, it is also actively paying attention to cooperation in emerging fields such as the digital economy and artificial intelligence. This is of great significance for Laos in achieving industrial upgrading and cultivating new economic growth drivers, Gu Xiaosong noted.

Laos may hope to leverage cooperation with China to secure a position in the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions, achieve industrial upgrading, and overtake competitors by taking a strategic shortcut, Zhou Shixin, director of the Center of Southeast Asia Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

This is of great strategic significance for Laos, which is currently undergoing a critical transition from least developed country to that of developing country.

Thongloun's visit this time coincides with the fifth anniversary of the China-Laos Railway entering operation. The completion of the China-Laos Railway has enabled Laos to connect northward through China, and southward to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries, becoming a vital corridor for Laos to reach out to the world. This is undoubtedly a model project for infrastructure connectivity between China and Laos, and a source of pride for both nations, Gu highlighted.

Xie Yike with the China Railway Kunming Group shared with the Global Times on Tuesday that as a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Laos Railway which runs from Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, to Lao capital Vientiane, has seen passenger and freight transport volumes repeatedly hit new highs since it entered operation.

Per the latest data provided by the Kunming Group, the China-Laos Railway has become the main artery of regional connectivity. As of June 1, 2026, the railway has operated more than 100,000 passenger trains, carrying over 73 million passengers, including more than 840,000 cross-border passengers from more than 120 countries and regions. Freight performance has also been impressive, with the total volume of goods transported across the entire line surpassing 84 million tons, of which cross-border freight exceeded 19 million tons.

The China-Laos Railway has also undergone a significant transformation from "connected" to "smooth" and from "smooth" to "prosperous," per the railway operators. The monthly passenger volume on the entire line has jumped from approximately 600,000 at the initial stage of operation to a peak of 2.25 million, a nearly four-fold increase.

The China-Laos Railway has not only strengthened confidence in infrastructure development, but has also laid a solid foundation for bilateral cooperation in high-tech fields such as artificial intelligence, the digital economy, e-commerce and new energy, Zhou Shixin noted.

During President Thongloun's visit to China, the two sides are expected to engage in in-depth discussions on a wide range of issues based on a high level of mutual trust, Zhou said, noting that he is full of confidence that the China-Laos community with a shared future will be further deepened, the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Laos will be further enriched, and China-Laos relations will enter a new golden era.