Diplomats benefit from Beijing's sincerity

As diplomats strode the red carpet at Laos' landmark - the spacious National Convention Center in the capital Vientiane - hurrying to meetings, they benefited from China's courtesy.

The center forms part of China's aid to Laos. Chinese workers completed its construction in only 10 months in 2012, well in time for the Asia-Europe Meeting held there that year.

This year, the venue hosted a range of annual meetings from Sunday to Tuesday involving foreign ministers from all 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their international counterparts, such as those from China, Japan, the United States and the European Union.