(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-27 00:12

BEIJING  -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming visit to Laos will further promote the relations between China and Laos, and deepen cooperation among countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion(GMS), a senior Chinese diplomat said here Wednesday.

Wen will pay a working visit to Laos from March 29 to 31, and attend the third Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit in Laos' capital of Vientiane, his first foreign visit since being re-appointed premier on March 16.

"The visit will be of great significance to the traditional China-Laos friendship and the further development of substantial cooperation," said He Yafei, assistant foreign minister.

Wen, invited by Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, will meet with Lao President Choummaly Saygnasone and hold talks with Bouasone on future bilateral cooperation.

Wen and Bouasone are scheduled to attend the signing cooperation agreement in the sectors of economy, technology, coal and e-governance, said He.

After his working visit to Laos, Wen will join with leaders from the other five GMS members -- Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar -- as well as representatives from the Asian Development Bank at the summit and attend the opening ceremony of a 1,800-km international road from China's Kunming city to Thailand's Bangkok.

The Chinese government has actively participated in GMS cooperation, especially on transport, energy and telecommunication, He said.

China has assisted and participated in the construction of the GMS North-South economic corridor, information superhighway network and the improvement of upper-Mekong waterway, said He.

China is planning to promote cooperation on agriculture, railway, and training within the subregion at the summit.

On the exploitation of water resources of the Lancang-Mekong river, He reiterated that the exploitation should be made in line with the overall interests of the subregion.

"China, on the upper reaches, will take the concerns and interests of countries in the lower reaches into full consideration, maintaining dialogue with them on the basis of equality and mutual-benefit," said the diplomat.

The GMS, established in 1992, promotes economic and social development, irrigation and cooperation within the six Mekong countries.

It has a combined land area of nearly 2.3 million square km and a population of more than 250 million.

The first GMS Summit was held in Cambodia's Phnom Penh in 2002, and the second in southwest China's Kunming in 2005.