Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and president of Laos, visited the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National Academy of Governance) on Thursday afternoon.
Thongloun arrived in Beijing on Thursday.
The visit to the Party School, where he previously studied for a month back in 2000, was the first stop on Thongloun's Beijing itinerary.
He toured the room he stayed at 26 years ago, and Thongloun reflected on how quickly time has passed since that time.
In his speech, Thongloun recalled his experience as a student and expressed appreciation for the support the school has provided to Lao officials and students.
"We should further strengthen cooperation between our two sides and enhance exchanges and development between the party schools of Laos and China. I thank the Chinese teachers for sharing their valuable experience, especially their experience from the early stages of national development. This reflects the political mutual trust between our two countries, and we will never forget it," said the Lao president.
Thongloun is on a five-day state visit to China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which also took him to Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province from Tuesday to Thursday.
Lao president visits Party School of CPC Central Committee
A wide range of ecological and environmental protection activities were held in China to mark the World Environment Day on Friday, aimed at encouraging public participation in green transition across the country to build a beautiful China.
Jointly organized by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao for the first time, the National Event on the Environment Day 2026 -- the national main event, released the 2025 China Ecological Environment Status Bulletin, outlining the leapfrog improvement in China's ecological environment quality over the past decade.
Meanwhile, various regions across China rolled out a rich variety of themed activities to engage wide public involvement in environmental protection.
In Beijing, the Ecological Culture Week kicked off, featuring interactive activities such as micro-sitcom creation and AI animation science popularization to spread ecological culture and green development concepts.
In the Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province, students and their parents collaborated to paint a 100-meter-long ecological scroll. Their works, centered on themes including lucid waters and lush mountains, water conservation, and garbage classification, helped deepen participants' ecological awareness.
Luzhou City in southwest China's Sichuan Province brought environmental education to real-world settings, holding small environmental protection classes at local sewage treatment plants and environmental protection image museums. Participants gained a firsthand appreciation of the hard work behind ecological governance through guided tours and film screenings.
Beyond individual cities, cross-regional collaboration also took center stage. Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province and Huangshan in east China's Anhui Province jointly launched an ecological protection action, releasing over 10,000 black amur bream fry into the Qiandao Lake to help improve water quality.
Simultaneously, the two provinces initiated joint cross-provincial fishery law enforcement, further solidifying practical cooperation in trans-regional ecological management.
China celebrates the World Environment Day on June 5 every year, coinciding with the United Nations' global observance to promote global environmental awareness and action.
Diverse activities held across China to mark Environment Day
Diverse activities held across China to mark Environment Day
