A high ranking Lao official maintains that increased cooperation between Laos and China will eventually enables Laos to reap rather than lose benefits because Chinese investments in Laos help redistribute wealth among the Lao people.
China's President Hu Jintao recently visited Laos after attending an APEC summit in Hanoi. The two-day visit, on November 19 and 20, which was praised by Lao authorities as a reflection of an increasingly comprehensive cooperation between Laos and its giant neighbor to the North, resulted in the signing of ten agreements on bilateral cooperation and Chinese assistance to Laos.
China is now the fourth largest foreign investors in Laos following Thailand, Australia, and Vietnam.
Listen to our Laos Today report for more details.