The Civil Aviation University of China (CAUC) in Guanghan City of southwest China's Sichuan Province received the first group of Lao students in its 52-year history on Monday.

The Lao students include 10 to be trained as civil pilot and 15others as mechanical engineers. They will study for two years in China and all courses will be in English.

After graduation, the students would work for Laotian airlines, said Chen Buke, vice president of CAUC.

"I hope they would contribute to the development of civil aviation in Laos and the world," said Phongsavath Phoumavongthe, Consul General of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in Kunming, capital of the southwestern Yunnan Province.

CAUC, founded in 1956, has trained 90 percent of China's civilian pilots.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2008)