BEIJING: Since taking office in late August, Prime Minister Hun Manet has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping twice. The Chinese president was one of the first to congratulate Hun Manet on his ascent to power and has been a vocal supporter of boosting China-Cambodia relations in tourism, trade and investment.
On October 19, the two heads-of-government met in Beijing as China hosts the Third Belt and Road Forum to celebrate ten years of its ambitious global infrastructure project and further ties with partnering countries. According to the New York Times, China has disbursed close to $1 trillion to mostly developing countries, largely in loans, to build power plants, roads, airports, telecommunications networks and other infrastructure. Both former Prime Minister Hun Sen and his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet, are avid proponents of the initiative and what it has done for Cambodia’s infrastructure.
President Xi Jinping largely reiterated what Prime Minister Li Qiang said during his meeting with Prime Minister Hun Manet two days earlier. They agreed to make 2024 the Year of People-to-People Exchanges between their two countries and focus on creating more active and lively trade, tourism and investment sectors.
Xi Jinping praised the progress made in China-Cambodia cooperation, as this year marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. He expressed satisfaction with the frequent exchanges between the leaders of the two countries, which proves their close and friendly relations. He also agreed to back the new Cambodian administration’s economic Pentagon Strategy.
Prime Minister Hun Manet was grateful for the second meeting in two months and congratulated the Chinese President on the tenth anniversary of his Belt and Road Initiative in addition to hosting the 19th Asian Games this month, which Cambodia’s King Sihamoni attended.
The two leaders agreed to strengthen and expand existing good cooperation at a high and comprehensive level, especially by promoting the implementation of their Diamond Cooperation and the establishment of the "Fish and Rice Corridor" and the "Industrial and Technological Corridors." They also discussed strengthening cooperation in
tourism, energy, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges.
