中老携手奔向互利共赢的康庄大道——记习近平2017年老挝之旅 Cooperation of Laos and China benefits both

Five years after President Xi Jinping was in Laos on a state visit, Sommano Pholsena, an old schoolmate of his, is happy to see the fruit of collaboration between the two countries.
2017年，中国国家主席习近平对老挝进行了国事访问。五年来，中老两国取得了丰硕的合作成果，作为习近平的老同学，萨马诺·奔舍那为此感到由衷高兴。

"The China-Laos railway has been opened," said Sommano, a former vice-general manager of the state corporation Electricite du Laos. "I've also heard that the first phase of a China-aided hospital in Vientiane has started to accept patients."
萨马诺曾任老挝国家电力公司副总经理，他说：“中老铁路已经开通了。我还听说，在万象中国援建的一家医院，第一期已经开了，已经可以入住病人。”

He was referring to the 1,035-kilometer railway that opened in December, a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road collaboration connecting Kunming in Yunnan province with the Lao capital, Vientiane.
萨马诺提到的中老铁路于2021年12月通车，线路全长1035公里，连接云南省昆明市与老挝首都万象。中老铁路是“一带一路”标志性的高质量合作项目。

"Many hospitals and schools were built under pilot poverty alleviation programs," Sommano told China Daily in fluent Mandarin. "The results are obvious."
萨马诺用流利的普通话告诉《中国日报》：“那些扶贫项目，包括试点示范工程，在很多县建医院、建学校，成果显而易见！”

As the second son of the former Lao foreign minister Quinim Pholsena, a key figure who pushed for the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Laos in 1961, Sommano, together with his siblings, studied at Beijing Bayi School with Xi in the 1960s.
作为老挝前外交部长贵宁·奔舍那的次子，上世纪60年代，萨马诺及其兄弟姐妹曾与习近平同在北京八一学校学习。贵宁是推动中老两国在1961年建交的关键人物。

On Nov 13, 2017, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, arrived in Laos for a two-day state visit after he attended the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Vietnam. It was the first visit to Laos by a Chinese head of state in 11 years.
2017年11月13日，习近平在出席亚太经合组织（APEC）第二十五次领导人非正式会议后，对老挝进行为期两天的国事访问。这是中国国家元首11年来首次访问老挝。

Despite a tight schedule, Xi made time to meet his friends from the Pholsena family at the hotel where he stayed in Vientiane. Xi had also met them when he visited Laos in 2010 as vice-president.
尽管日程安排很紧凑，但习近平还是抽时间在万象下榻的酒店会见了奔舍那家族的友人。2010年，习近平以副主席身份访问老挝时也会见了他们。

"Xi remembered all of our names," Sommano said. "He was standing by the door, and we walked into the room to shake hands with him. He asked if we were well."
萨马诺说：“他记得每个人的名字。他站在门口，我们排着队进去与他握手。他就说‘好吗？健康吗？’。”

Sommano said the family felt privileged and proud to meet Xi. "Our younger family members were also very excited and even asked me if I could help get Xi's autograph," he said.
萨马诺说，受到习主席的接见让他们一家人倍感荣幸和自豪。他说：“我们的小辈也特别激动，还有人问我是否方便跟（习主席）要一个签名。”

Sommano said he was most impressed that Xi called his family, many of whom had studied in China, witnesses and successors of the friendship between China and Laos. "He stressed specifically that we should pass this on to our next generation."
萨马诺印象最深的是，习近平称奔舍那家族的成员（其中许多人曾在中国学习）是中老友谊的见证者和继承者。“他特别强调了一点，希望我们（将这份友谊）传承给下一代。”

During the visit Xi reached a number of agreements with the Lao leadership, such as accelerating the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to transform itself from a landlocked country to a "land-linked "one. The two sides also emphasized pushing forward the construction of the China-Laos economic corridor, the China-Laos railway, and expanding collaboration fields such as energy, resources, electricity and finance, as well as sectors such as healthcare, education and poverty alleviation.
习近平在访问老挝期间与老挝领导人达成多项合作共识，如推动“一带一路”倡议同老挝“变陆锁国为陆联国”战略对接，共建中老经济走廊，推进中老铁路项目。深化能源、电力、金融、医疗、教育、扶贫等领域合作。

The two countries agreed that jointly building a community of shared future with strategic significance on the basis of mutual trust is in line with the fundamental interests and common expectations of the two parties, two countries and two peoples, and also conducive to the cause of peace and development for the world.
两国一致认为，双方在彼此信赖的基础上，共同打造中老具有战略意义的命运共同体，符合两党两国和两国人民的根本利益和共同愿望，有利于人类和平与发展的崇高事业。

Xi attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a China-aided upgrade project of Mahosot Hospital, one of the first hospitals in Laos, built in 1910. As a landmark project in bilateral collaboration in public welfare, the 700-million-yuan ($104 million) project includes the expansion of the century-old hospital and the construction of new in-house medical facilities.
习近平出席了玛霍索综合医院奠基仪式。中国援老挝玛霍索综合医院项目是中国援建老挝的民生领域标志性项目。玛霍索医院建于1910年，是老挝最早的医院之一，该项目是在现有医院基础上升级改造。

In November the first phase of the project was handed over to Laos, including the new ward building and the building for treating infectious diseases.
2021年11月，包括新建病房楼、传染病楼在内的项目一期工程顺利完工并移交老方。

Phisith Phoutsavath, who took part in the groundbreaking ceremony as the then deputy general manager of Mahosot Hospital, said the upgrading project helped to increase the number of beds to make it the biggest in Laos.
时任玛霍索医院副总经理的菲西斯·傅赛瓦特出席了奠基仪式，他表示，升级改造后的玛霍索医院增加了床位数量，成为老挝最大的医院。

The upgrade was important not only because it improved the hospital's capability to treat more patients, with better skills, but also because it allowed Mahosot Hospital, a teaching hospital, to train more medical talent in Laos, Phisith said.
菲西斯称，这次升级意义重大，不仅是因为医院的收治能力和医疗技术得到提高，而且作为一家教学医院，玛霍索医院将为老挝培训更多的医疗人才。

"Xi also told the Lao and Chinese ophthalmological teams to continue working together for the Lao people," Phisith said, recalling that Xi also visited Lao patients who received free cataract surgery from Chinese ophthalmologists as part of an aid project at the time.
菲西斯回忆说，习主席还慰问了老挝白内障患者，这些患者通过当时的援老项目接受了中国医生的免费手术。“习主席对老挝和中国的眼科医生团队表示，双方可以继续加强合作，更好地造福当地人民。”

That collaboration left a valuable legacy for Laos, Phisith said. When international travel was most restricted during the pandemic, Lao doctors were able to do cataract operations on their own, he said, as a result of their previous experience of working with the Chinese doctors.
菲西斯称，这种合作为老挝留下了宝贵的遗产，在新冠疫情期间，跨国旅行受到极大限制，老挝医生能够独立完成白内障手术，多亏了以前与中国医生合作的经验。

In addition to the collaboration in cataract surgery, the hospital worked with its Chinese partner in Yunnan province to treat patients with heart disease.
除了白内障手术方面的合作外，玛霍索医院还与中国云南省的医院开展合作，治疗心脏病患者。

The hospital has seen an increase in the number of patients since the inauguration of the China-Laos railway, Phisith said.
菲西斯称，中老铁路开通后，该医院收治的病人数量进一步增加。

Many Lao people used to travel to Thailand to receive healthcare because it was even closer for them, Phisith said, but with the new railway more people are traveling to Mahosot Hospital because the railway has made it easier for them to travel to Vientiane.
许多老挝人过去前往泰国看病，因为那里离他们更近，但如今越来越多人前往玛霍索医院，因为中老铁路使往来万象更方便了。

With a speed of 160 km per hour, the China-Laos railway has cut the travel time between Vientiane and Boten, on the border with China, from 15 hours to about four hours. Including the onward connections to Kunming, the trip takes about 10 hours in total, compared with the previous time of two to three days.
中老铁路设计时速160公里，开通运营后，将万象与位于中老边境的磨丁之间的旅行时间从15小时缩短到4小时左右；旅客从昆明至万象最快10小时左右可达，此前需要2到3天。

By June 2 the China-Laos railway had handled more than 3.2 million passenger trips, with the top number of passengers on the line's Laos section reaching about 5,000 in a single day. It has carried 4.03 million metric tons of goods, including 647,000 tons of cross-border goods such as electronics, photovoltaic items and fruit.
截至今年6月2日，中老铁路累计发送旅客超过320万人次，其中老挝段单日客运量最高达到约5000人次；发送货物403万吨，其中跨境货物64.7万吨，包括电子产品、光伏产品和水果等。

In addition to improving Laos' transport connections with China, the railway is helping to transform Laos into a regional logistics center because it has opened a new era for regional trade. For example, Thailand transported 500 tons of durian to China via the railway route for the first time in April.
除了改善中老两国的交通连接外，这条铁路还帮老挝转变为区域物流中心，为区域贸易开辟了新时代。例如，今年4月，泰国首次通过中老铁路将500吨榴莲运送到中国。

Phisith said he hopes to see more healthcare collaboration between China and Laos. Before he retired last year he also proposed collaboration with Chinese hospitals to help Mahosot Hospital improve its cancer treatment and neuroscience.
菲西斯希望看到中国和老挝开展更多的医疗合作。去年退休前，他还提议与中国医院合作，帮助玛霍索医院提高癌症治疗和神经科学水平。

Recalling bilateral collaboration since 2017, and especially during the pandemic, Sommano said China was the first country to provide assistance to Laos, including sending medical experts, vaccines and other supplies.
回顾自2017年以来，特别是在疫情期间的双边合作，萨马诺表示，中国是第一个向老挝提供援助的国家，包括派遣医疗专家、运送疫苗和其他物资。

"The assistance was not just on the government level," he said, noting the extensive aid from Chinese provinces and enterprises.
他说，“援助不仅仅是中央政府层面的”，他还提到了来自中国各省份和企业的广泛支援。

Impressed by Xi's domestic policies on protecting the environment and alleviating poverty, Sommano said China's achievements set an example for Laos.
中国的环保和扶贫政策令萨马诺十分钦佩，他称中国的成就为老挝树立了榜样。

As a frequent traveler to China before the pandemic, Sommano said he was impressed by how China has developed in leaps and bounds over the past 10 years under Xi's leadership.
萨马诺在疫情前经常到中国旅行，他对过去10年中国在习主席带领下取得的飞跃式发展印象深刻。

"I see new changes every time I go to China. Many young people in Laos have become more interested in learning Chinese … and studying in China."
“我每次去（中国）都有新的变化……很多老挝的年轻人对学习中文很有兴趣，我觉得老挝年轻人对去中国留学还是很感兴趣 。”

China's rapid development has attracted people to learn more about it, he said.
他说，中国的快速发展吸引人们更深入地了解中国。

Today members of the Pholsena family are working in various government agencies, continuing to witness how China and Laos work with one another.
如今，奔舍那家族的成员们在老挝各政府机构任职，继续见证着中老两国合作的未来。

"Just as President Xi said, whatever the government does, it needs to create real benefit for the local people," Sommano said.
萨马诺说：“就像习主席说的一样，政府做的每一件事是要给老百姓实际的实惠。”

"We can feel that in Laos (from the collaboration with China)."
“（通过与中国的合作）我们在老挝也感觉到这一点。”

来源：中国日报
编辑：董静
记者：杨涵