Before setting foot on Chinese soil, Laotian youth Thongsanit Phanphondy was already a "China hand." After the "Bridge of the Future" China-ASEAN Young Leaders Training Program was launched, one of Phanphondy's main tasks was handling the procedures for Laotian youth to study in China; half of the Laotian trainees came to China through his efforts. Now, as deputy director of the Youth Media Department of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union, he had his first opportunity to participate in a training class as a trainee.

"Coming to China is like coming home." He told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network with emotion, "The various activities of the training class are of great reference value to Laos' youth work."

In mid-to-late May, 20 young cadres from the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union came to China to participate in a 10-day Laotian Young Leaders training activity. The Laotian youth representatives visited Guangxi and Beijing, exchanged views with young people from various sectors in China on topics such as rural revitalization, the digital economy, green development, and youth work, and personally experienced the achievements of Chinese-style modernization. They said they would bring China's experience back to Laos to promote Laos' national construction and youth development.

　　Experiencing Chinese-style modernization from multiple dimensions

Laos is mostly mountainous, and agriculture is the pillar of the country's economy. Many of the Laotian youth participating in this training are engaged in agriculture-related work. China's successful experience in poverty reduction and rural revitalization was one of the focuses of their attention on this trip.

The saying "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" is vividly reflected in the development trajectory of Zhongliang Village, Xixiangtang District, Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In recent years, Zhongliang Village has treated sewage, created leisure landscapes, and renovated the village's appearance, turning the village into a leisure agriculture demonstration area integrating leisure agriculture, tourism, new rural development, and agricultural science and technology demonstration.

Pumpkins of various shapes and soilless-cultivated eggplants—the abundant fruits in the greenhouses amazed the Laotian youth; the local specialty farm restaurants and the quaintly styled village houses and dwellings drew even more praise from the Laotian youth. Van Laoxang, deputy director of the Economic and Planning Division of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union, told the reporter that current farming methods in rural Laos are still relatively traditional, with little use of facilities such as greenhouses, and villages combining local cultural tourism like this are even rarer. Laotian youth cadre Phansong Viphavan also praised the development of China's rural areas, and he hopes rural Laos can likewise lead villagers to prosperity together.

Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, connectivity between China and ASEAN countries has continued to deepen. The China-ASEAN Information Harbor is jointly built by China and ASEAN countries. Based on deepening network connectivity, information exchange, and mutually beneficial cooperation, it promotes the joint building of the "Information Silk Road."

At the China-ASEAN Cross-Border E-Commerce Livestreaming Industry Base, rows of shelves piled with goods, set-up reflectors, and exquisite stage sets gave the Laotian youth a taste of "e-commerce livestreaming sales." They realized that behind the booming cross-border e-commerce between China and ASEAN countries lies both firm policy support and surging grassroots vitality.

"Participating in this training class, I witnessed the development of China's e-commerce." Banli Banthongchan, deputy director of the Youth Training Department of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union, said, "I believe that in the near future, Laotian youth will, like Chinese young people, enthusiastically embrace the arrival and development of e-commerce."

Regarding China's changes over the past decade or so, Banli Banthongchan has more say than the other trainees. In 2007 and 2016, he visited Guangxi twice, and this year is his third visit to China. He used "developing," "relatively well developed," and "more comprehensively developed" to describe what he saw and felt on these three visits to China. During this training, he gained a deeper understanding of Chinese-style modernization. "Chinese-style modernization is the modernization of both material civilization and spiritual civilization. Chinese-style modernization is not development in just one aspect, but all-round development. This is also the foundation for socialist countries, including China and Laos, to achieve modernization."

Witnessing the enduring China-Laos friendship

During the training activities, the Laotian youth went to the Nanning site of the Lao "67" School to read about the stories of China-Laos friendship.

According to reports, in the 1960s, Laos was deeply mired in the flames of the anti-colonial struggle. To take in and shelter Laotian children, China built a school in Nanning free of charge and named it the "67" School because the school was decided to be established in 1967. During its nine years of operation, more than a thousand Laotian students studied here. After returning home, many of them became the backbone of Laos' national construction.

"This is an unforgettable period of history. For most young Laotians, if they do not come to China for training, they would not know this history." Nou Xay Nokya, secretary of the Xayaboury Provincial Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union, told the reporter, "After we return, we will tell Laotian youth this history and encourage them to carry forward the China-Laos friendship."

In the context of jointly building a China-ASEAN community with a shared future, Fangchenggang in Guangxi has gradually developed into an important gateway to the sea for southwestern China.

At the Fangchenggang port, the Laotian youth exclaimed again and again and stopped to take photos. "At present, Laos has only one seaport, operated in cooperation with Vietnam, and its cargo throughput is very small. We hope that in the future Laos can develop maritime shipping." Phansong Viphavan told the reporter.

Laos is a landlocked country, and developing maritime shipping is inseparable from the opening and operation of the China-Laos Railway. As a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Laos Railway has transformed Laos from a "land-locked country" into a "land-linked country," providing favorable conditions for further becoming a "sea-linked country" in the future.

Nou Xay Nokya pointed out that the Belt and Road Initiative has brought Laos the China-Laos Railway, an important transportation artery, and has also provided Laos with a great deal of technical support in agriculture and other fields, "so that crops can be grown even in relatively barren mountainous areas." Meysavan Khounsombath, deputy head of the Organization and Supervision Section of the Vientiane Municipal Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union, said that through the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese enterprises have provided many employment opportunities in Laos.

　　"We hope exchanges and cooperation between China and Laos will become ever closer"

In recent years, as cooperation between China and ASEAN has become ever closer, people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and ASEAN countries have become increasingly frequent, and many Chinese film and television programs are very popular in Southeast Asian countries. Thipphavanh, deputy director of the Adolescent Protection and Promotion Division of the Juvenile Department of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union, told the reporter that she is a fan of the Chinese xianxia drama "Till the End of the Moon," and on this trip to China she bought a set of hanfu. On the day she climbed the Great Wall, she carried this "ethereal" hanfu in her backpack, changed into it after reaching the end, and took many photos. "I really like China's traditional culture, whether clothing or calligraphy and painting," she said.

This training class arranged a rich and colorful program of cultural experience activities for the Laotian youth. At the Nanning Youth Activity Center, the Laotian youth received exquisite paper fans as gifts and experienced writing with a brush. At the Beijing Youth Palace, songs echoed and melodies flowed, and the Laotian youth listened attentively. At the exhibition on the history of the Chinese youth movement at the Central School of the Communist Youth League of China, yellowed photographs and historical witnesses deeply moved the Laotian youth.

Somna Saibanya, deputy secretary of the Xieng Khouang Provincial Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union, told the reporter that China does a very good job in publicizing history and culture to young people, "and I hope youth centers in Laos can also display our own history and culture and pass on the red spirit to Laotian youth." Somsi Chanthaphone, deputy director of the Inspection Department of the Lao National Academy of Politics and Public Administration, introduced that in Laos, there is only one comprehensive youth activity center like China's, integrating youth training, psychological counseling, and development services, and it is only in the capital, Vientiane. This comprehensive youth activity center was built with assistance from the Chinese government to Laos, was handed over last year, and is about to be officially put into use. "We hope to invite the Chinese side to pay a return visit."

"Youth are the most important force of a country," Vongphet Banbandith, director of the Youth Career Development and Employment Promotion Division of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union, told the reporter. This "good employee," as his colleagues call him, carried a pen and notebook wherever he went, carefully writing down the experience shared by the Chinese side. The Chinese government's provision of funding, training, and various other forms of support for youth employment and entrepreneurship deeply moved him. "I hope that in the future China and Laos can carry out cooperation in youth employment and entrepreneurship."

"This activity has greatly benefited the Lao side, and we will apply the experience and concepts learned in this exchange to our practical work." Nou Xay Nokya said that during this exchange, the Laotian youth systematically studied theory and also visited and inspected many places, witnessing with their own eyes the tremendous development achievements China has made. "I hope that in the future, whether political parties, governments, people, or youth organizations, China and Laos will have ever closer exchanges and cooperation."