PHNOM PENH: On Monday morning, President of the Board of Priests and Director of the Judiciary Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia Samdech Preah Moha Sangkha Reach Bour Kri, , and Senior Minister Ly Thuch, Chairman of the Escab National Committee, have met in a video call with Venerable Tao Qian, Chief Bishop of Hoyuan Pagoda along with a delegation from Chongqing Province of the People's Republic of China.

The topic of the videocall was regarding the Cambodian-Chinese Buddhist Cultural Exchange under the "One Road, One Belt" initiative.

The meeting was attended by the Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Cults and Religious Affairs, Mr. Nguon Sdech Pheakdey, and a delegation from Chongqing Province of the People's Republic of China, including Deputy Director of the International Cultural Exchange Center, Mr. Yang Guangsun and Director of the Affairs Committee Religion and Civilization Mr. Zhang Tianyu as well as the Secretary-General of the Hoyuan Education and Culture Foundation, Yin Liang.

On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, Senior Minister Ly Thuch spoke about the steel relations and comprehensive strategic partnership between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the People's Republic of China, which has established historic diplomatic ties by His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk and His Excellency President Mao Zedong. In 1958 and later, under the vision of Prime Minister and President Xi Jinping, the friendship was deepened to serve the interests of both peoples and nations.

The Senior Minister stated the "One Road - One Belt" initiative is a great project and an important driving force in promoting sustainable development and greater globalization in the region and the world. And better yet, Cambodia has benefited from the friendship with China regarding the implementation of this project through cultural and economic connections, as well as trade, investment and infrastructure construction.

On behalf of the Royal Government and the people of Cambodia, the Senior Minister expressed his deep gratitude and appreciation to the Government and people of the People's Republic of China for their continued support for the economic, social, and tourism development in Cambodia.

On that occasion, the Senior Minister expressed his sadness and regret for the loss of life and injuries of the people of Chongqing who were affected by the building collapse.

Venerable Tao Qian, Chief Bishop of Huoyuan Pagoda, and the Chinese delegation in Chongqing Province expressed satisfaction over the close cooperation between the two nations as well as strengthening Buddhist ties between the two countries.

At the same time, the Chinese delegation in Chongqing pledged to continue assisting Cambodia, participating in human resource training by providing scholarships by the Espeq National Committee.

The two sides agreed to continue to strengthen and enhance exchanges of visits for education, economy, society, culture and religion under the "One Road, One Belt" initiative after the end of the Covid-19 outbreak.

In 2019, on behalf of the National Escrow Committee, the Senior Minister contacted the Chongqing Provincial Education Committee to apply for scholarships for Cambodian civil servants and youth, and sent Cambodian civil servants and youths to participate in a training course on "e-commerce". Held directly at Chongqing Creation Vocational College. The e second session is scheduled to be held on video on April of this year.