BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, replied on Thursday to Laos' top leader Thongloun Sisoulith to designate 2026 as the Year of China-Laos Friendship.

An international freight train bound for Lao capital Vientiane pulls out of Yanhe Station of China-Laos Railway in Yuxi City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Aug. 23, 2025. (File photo: Xinhua)

In the letter, Xi also joined Thongloun, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao president, in announcing the launch of a series of events of celebration in the friendship year.