Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day state visit to Laos beginning Nov. 13 was eagerly expected by Laotians, who believed that the trip symbolizes the profound friendship between the two countries.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has again demonstrated the major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in his recent state visits to Vietnam and Laos. Developing ties with peripheral countries is a priority of China’s diplomacy.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017.
In 1994 the Bogor goals were established in APEC with the aim to achieve by 2020 an area of free trade and investment among all member economies, but within three years of that date, it will be difficult to reach that objective. That is why some years ago the idea of having a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific, or FTAAP, was proposed, and in the 2014 APEC Leaders’ Summit in Beijing, at China initiative, a study on how to achieve that was launched.
