On the afternoon of March 22, 2016, Premier Li Keqiang in Sanya, Hainan Province welcomed Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha of Thailand, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong of Laos, Vice President Sai Mauk Kham of Myanmar, and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh of Viet Nam, who were in China to attend the 1st Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting.

Li Keqiang shook hands with them and posed for group photos.

Li Keqiang said in the following address that for more than a year, the LMC cooperation mechanism has gradually transformed from a proposal into reality. It adopted the cooperation concept paper, identified the three pillars including political security, economy and sustainable development as well as social humanity, and five cooperation priorities including connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economy, water resources, agriculture and poverty alleviation, and proposed nearly a hundred "early harvest" projects. This shows that it conforms to the trend of the times, fits with public opinion, and contains great cooperation potential for the six countries along the Lancang-Mekong River to further enhance mutual trust, strengthen cooperation, maintain close exchanges, and promote development on the basis of existing foundation.

Li Keqiang pointed out that institutional cooperation among the six countries will help safeguard regional peace and stability. It is conductive to taking better advantages of geographical similarities and humanities closeness, giving full play to the complementarities of each country's resources, industries and markets, and providing stronger support and broader stage to the region's economic and social development. The LMC will also be a beneficial supplement to China-ASEAN relations. China looks forward to, under the theme of "shared river, shared future" working with leaders of all countries along the Lancang-Mekong River to jointly discuss cooperation plan, paint the cooperation blueprint and together take the first step into the bright future of the LMC.

In November, 2014, Premier Li Keqiang put forward in the 17th China-ASEAN Summit to discuss and establish the Langcang-Mekong River Dialogue and Cooperation mechanism under the China-ASEAN (10+1) framework. The first LMC Leaders' Meeting will be officially held at Sanya International Asia Pacific Convention Center on the morning of March 23.