Jing Ying (left), Vice President of Shanghai People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, presents souvenirs of Shanghai International Expo to Lao students who are going back to China after finishing their studies.Photographed by Wu Yu, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
Shanghai University of Applied Technology and Sufanufeng University in Laos recently held a special folk exchange forum via video link.
The first group of eight Lao students who are about to graduate from undergraduate education and return to China announced at the symposium that the bilingual WeChat official account "China Laos Railway Connect", which they co founded with Chinese students, has been launched.They hoped to use the soon to be opened China Laos railway as a medium to connect all aspects of the two countries and build a bridge between the two peoples.
"We want the engineers of the China Laos Railway and the engineers who are friendly to the people of China and Laos, and both of them should work hard to do a good job." Lao student Su Song said in fluent Chinese, "After returning home, we should transplant the relevant content of the" China Laos Railway Connection "to the social platform of Laos, so that more Laotians can know more about China, get familiar with the railway, and accelerate development."
In the past three years, Changsha Hailin, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and the Shanghai People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, has always been concerned about the study and life of these Lao students studying in Shanghai. He is also one of the first fans of the "China Laos Railway Connection".
Sha Hailin believes that under the special background of the global pandemic of COVID-19, the first eight Laotian students from the "China Laos Railway Class" of Shanghai University of Applied Technology returned home as scheduled, which itself is a true portrayal of the deep friendship between China and Laos and the community of common destiny.The "China Laos Railway Connection", co founded by young students from both countries, "connects not only goods exchanges and economic and trade cooperation, but also the hearts of the people of both countries and the future of common prosperity and development".
Next year is the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Laos, and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the China ASEAN dialogue partnership. According to the plan, it is also a happy year for the completion and opening of the China Laos railway.Aley Weilai Sujialun, Acting Consul General of the Lao Consulate General in Shanghai, said that the China Laos Railway will promote Laos from a "land locked country" to a "land linked country", and Laos is in urgent need of matching talents in various industries.The birth of the "China Laos Railway Connection" is a positive signal.
Ke Qinfei, President of Shanghai University of Applied Technology, introduced that, according to the cooperation agreement reached with Sufanufeng University in Laos, since 2018, the railway engineering major of Shanghai University of Applied Technology has recruited 24 Laos students and established the "China Laos Railway Class".Focusing on the China Laos railway project, Shanghai University of Applied Technology has also jointly established the "International Joint Laboratory of China Laos Railway Engineering" with Sufanufeng University in Laos, and sent teachers and students to the construction site of the China Laos railway to carry out social practice.
Some Lao students who participated in the informal exchange forum.Photographed by Wu Yu, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
Since this year, the sudden COVID-19 epidemic has inspired Laotian students to communicate with Chinese students and teachers through online social platforms for a long time.After the online planning in the summer and the division of labor and cooperation after the campus reopened in September, the young students of the two countries set up a bilingual WeChat account with the railway as the link.
At present, the company has 3 major columns and 11 small columns of "China Laos Railway", "Railway Science Popularization" and "Interconnection".Among them, photos in the column of "Studying in Shanghai" record the unforgettable moments of Lao students taking China's high-speed railway, visiting the Beijing Zhangjiakou railway, the first railway in China, and volunteering at the second China International Import Expo in 2019.
The relevant person in charge of China Laos Railway Co., Ltd. said in the video link that at present, the China Laos railway project is shifting from engineering construction to construction, operation preparation and operation development.In order to ensure the operation next year, more than 600 Lao employees have been recruited for training in China and Laos.It is expected that through long-term talent training, the China Laos Railway will gradually realize the localization of domestic operation in Laos from entrusted operation.
Liu Zhiheng is a Chinese student from the School of Rail Transit of Shanghai University of Applied Technology and one of the participants in the "China Laos Railway Connection".He said that the common interest in railway knowledge has turned Chinese and Laotian students on campus from classmates to friends.With the completion and opening of the China Laos Railway next year, China Laos friendship will take root in the hearts of more people in both countries.
