VIENTIANE - Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Tuesday with members of a Lao family with a time-honored friendship with China, urging the young generations to carry the torch forward.

Stories about the friendship between China and the family of Quinim Pholsena are widely known, Xi told the descendants of the late Lao senior official, some of whom once studied in the same school with him in Beijing.

The Chinese president, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said he is delighted to reunite once again with old schoolmates and old friends.

The Pholsena family is China's good friend and old friend, and is a witness and supporter of and contributor to the China-Laos traditional friendship, said Xi, who was in the Lao capital for a state visit.

Laos is an "iron friend" of China, he said, adding that during his stay he and Lao leaders reached new important consensus on deepening bilateral cooperation and building a community of shared future with strategic significance.

He pinned high hopes on the young generations of the Pholsena family, stressing that the youth represents the hope of the socialist causes of both countries and the future of the China-Laos friendship.

He called on the young descendants of Quinim Pholsena to carry on the bond and contribute to the building of a China-Laos community of shared future with strategic significance.

The Pholsenas, excited to meet with Xi, congratulated him on being re-elected as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, saying that as Xi's schoolmates they have always been closely following China's development.

They added that they are touched by the fact that Xi, although being the leader of a major country, cares about old friends so much, and that they are determined to contribute to further consolidating the friendship between the two nations.

They also conveyed their wish that the Chinese people will realize their strategic goals at an early date.