On December 7, 2023, when presiding over the 8th Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Beijing, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, said that since the 7th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, all parties have adhered to the principle of “development first, consultation on an equal footing” The Lancang-Mekong spirit of “being pragmatic, efficient, open and inclusive” has solidly promoted cooperation in various fields, achieved a series of new results, and created many new highlights:

First, senior leaders lead cooperation to improve quality and upgrade. President Xi Jinping interacted closely with leaders of the Mekong countries, setting the direction for friendly cooperation among the six countries. Leaders of many Mekong countries visited China intensively and attended the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games and the third “Belt and Road” International Cooperation Summit Forum, setting off a new upsurge in high-level exchanges between China and the Mekong countries. Driven by the leaders’ care and promotion, the joint working group in six priority areas of connectivity, production capacity cooperation, cross-border economy, water resources, agriculture and poverty reduction is advancing in an orderly manner. Water resources, agriculture, environmental protection, youth exchange and cooperation center and the Global Mekong River The efficient operation of mechanisms such as research centers provides strong support for deepening cooperation in various fields.

Second, economic and trade exchanges have accelerated across the board. Railways, highways, airports, ports, and pipeline networks are constantly improving and have become the backbone of the Lancang-Mekong economic development belt; hydropower stations, wind power stations, and photovoltaic power stations echo each other and have become the blood of the development belt. The important progress in interconnection has accelerator for sub-regional economic and trade exchanges. The annual trade volume between China and the Mekong countries will reach 416.7 billion US dollars in 2022, doubling compared with seven years ago. Cross-border investments by companies from various countries have become more active, injecting impetus and vitality into local economic development.

Third, people’s livelihood and well-being continue to improve. Lancang-Mekong Cooperation is deeply rooted in the people and benefits them. Cooperation projects that benefit the country and the people, such as the “Harvest Lancang-Mekong” project cluster, the Lancang-Mekong Sweet Spring Action Plan, and the Green Lancang-Mekong Plan, have brought tangible benefits to the people in the basin, allowing them to truly feel the dividends of Lancang-Mekong cooperation.

Fourth, the Lancang-Mekong people understand each other. All parties have continued to increase investment in education, culture, women, poverty alleviation, sports and other areas of people’s livelihood, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation have become more colorful. The close personnel exchanges and diversified cultural exchanges have tightened the emotional ties between the people of the six countries and strengthened the sense of community that the Lancang-Mekong countries are as close as one family.

Wang Yi said that as the first new sub-regional cooperation mechanism jointly initiated and participated by the six Lancang-Mekong countries, Lancang-Mekong cooperation has achieved fruitful results from scratch, from its infancy to flourishing, and has become a driving force for mutual benefit in the region. A new important platform for cooperation. We believe that the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation will achieve steady and long-term development and become a model for state-to-state relations, a model for sub-regional cooperation, and a benchmark for South-South cooperation.

Source : mfa.gov.cn

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