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.
在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.
在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。
