VIENTIANE, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Southeast Asia Tower Company, invested by the Chinese state-owned China Tower, together with the Lao government and local firm Click Lao Marketing and Consultancy, has been officially launched in Laos and put into operation.

According to an agreement inked in August, the shareholding ratio of the three parties is 70 percent, 15 percent, and 15 percent respectively.

The chairman and general manager of Southeast Asia Tower would be appointed by China Tower, the controlling shareholder, which will also lead the operation and management of the joint venture.

The launching ceremony of the Southeast Asia Tower company was held on Tuesday night in the Lao capital Vientiane. Tong Jilu, the chairman of China Tower, said at the ceremony that the company is to bring the development pattern of sharing resources and facilities to Laos, to promote the pattern of jointly building and operation in Laos, to accelerate the communication infrastructure building and achieve resources-saving, land-saving and environmental harmony at the same time for sharing the development bonus with the country.

Liu Bo, the Southeast Asia Tower Company general manager, told Xinhua on Thursday that General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao President Bounnhang Vorachit said during the meeting with the visiting delegation led by Tong Jilu that communication is a very important sector. Bounnhang congratulated the setup of the Southeast Asia Tower, and affirmed that the country would strongly support the company's development in Laos.

The Southeast Asia Tower Company will mainly be engaged in the construction, maintenance and operation of communication towers, base stations, power supplies and other supporting facilities, as well as that of indoor distribution systems and transmission systems in Laos.

The joint venture will rely on the experience and capabilities of China Tower in technology, operation management, and industrial chain integration to further explore the synergies between the two markets of China and Laos and improve the communication infrastructure construction and operation level in Laos.

China Tower, established on July 15, 2014, is mainly engaged in the construction, maintenance, and operation of a base station supporting facilities such as communication towers and large indoor distribution systems.

As of the end of June 2018, the China Tower runs about 1.9 million base stations, ranked as the world's largest provider of communication tower infrastructure services.