The upgrade was important not only because it improved the hospital's capability to treat more patients, with better skills, but also because it allowed Mahosot Hospital, a teaching hospital, to train more medical talent in Laos, Phisith said.
"Xi also told the Lao and Chinese ophthalmological teams to continue working together for the Lao people," Phisith said, recalling that Xi also visited Lao patients who received free cataract surgery from Chinese ophthalmologists as part of an aid project at the time.
That collaboration left a valuable legacy for Laos, Phisith said. When international travel was most restricted during the pandemic, Lao doctors were able to do cataract operations on their own, he said, as a result of their previous experience of working with the Chinese doctors.
In addition to the collaboration in cataract surgery, the hospital worked with its Chinese partner in Yunnan province to treat patients with heart disease.
The hospital has seen an increase in the number of patients since the inauguration of the China-Laos railway, Phisith said.
Many Lao people used to travel to Thailand to receive healthcare because it was even closer for them, Phisith said, but with the new railway more people are traveling to Mahosot Hospital because the railway has made it easier for them to travel to Vientiane.
With a speed of 160 km per hour, the China-Laos railway has cut the travel time between Vientiane and Boten, on the border with China, from 15 hours to about four hours. Including the onward connections to Kunming, the trip takes about 10 hours in total, compared with the previous time of two to three days.
By June 2 the China-Laos railway had handled more than 3.2 million passenger trips, with the top number of passengers on the line's Laos section reaching about 5,000 in a single day. It has carried 4.03 million metric tons of goods, including 647,000 tons of cross-border goods such as electronics, photovoltaic items and fruit.
In addition to improving Laos' transport connections with China, the railway is helping to transform Laos into a regional logistics center because it has opened a new era for regional trade. For example, Thailand transported 500 tons of durian to China via the railway route for the first time in April.
Phisith said he hopes to see more healthcare collaboration between China and Laos. Before he retired last year he also proposed collaboration with Chinese hospitals to help Mahosot Hospital improve its cancer treatment and neuroscience.
Recalling bilateral collaboration since 2017, and especially during the pandemic, Sommano said China was the first country to provide assistance to Laos, including sending medical experts, vaccines and other supplies.
"The assistance was not just on the government level," he said, noting the extensive aid from Chinese provinces and enterprises.
Impressed by Xi's domestic policies on protecting the environment and alleviating poverty, Sommano said China's achievements set an example for Laos.
As a frequent traveler to China before the pandemic, Sommano said he was impressed by how China has developed in leaps and bounds over the past 10 years under Xi's leadership.
"I see new changes every time I go to China. Many young people in Laos have become more interested in learning Chinese … and studying in China."
China's rapid development has attracted people to learn more about it, he said.
Today members of the Pholsena family are working in various government agencies, continuing to witness how China and Laos work with one another.
"Just as President Xi said, whatever the government does, it needs to create real benefit for the local people," Sommano said.
"We can feel that in Laos (from the collaboration with China)."
