On January 10, 2024, Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong met with new Lao Ambassador to China Somphone Sichaleune.

Nong Rong welcomed Somphone Sichaleune to assume his new post in China, and said that under the strategic guidance of General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith, new progress has been made in building a China-Laos community with a shared future. Both sides should focus on the implementation of the new action plan on building a China-Laos community with a shared future, personally signed by the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and deliver greater benefits to the people of the two countries. China adheres to the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness in its neighborhood diplomacy, and firmly supports Laos in assuming the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN.

Somphone Sichaleune said that Laos and China are a like-minded and unbreakable community with a shared future and "comrades and brothers". Laos fully supports and actively participates in the major initiatives and concepts proposed by President Xi Jinping, and is willing to work with China to follow through on high-level common understandings, strengthen bilateral and multilateral coordination and cooperation, and continue to deepen the building of the Laos-China community with a shared future.