On April 22, 2016, Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks in Phnom Penh with Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhon of Cambodia.
Wang Yi said that Cambodia is a trustworthy friend of China and plays a special and important role in China’s neighboring diplomacy. The two countries enjoy profound traditional friendship and close cooperative partnership. The Chinese government attaches great importance to its relations with Cambodia and is ready to carry forward China-Cambodia traditional friendship, and push the two countries to maintain a sound momentum of development in their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, so as to bring more benefits and welfare to the two peoples. China will continue to increase its support to Cambodia to help it maintain stability, accelerate development, improve people’s livelihood and enhance its international influence.
The two sides should maintain close high-level exchanges, deepen strategic communication, consolidate political mutual trust and strengthen mutual support. China thanks Cambodia for its staunch support to China on issues concerning China's core interests and major concerns all the time. China appreciates Cambodia for upholding justice and maintaining legitimate rights and interests of both China and Cambodia and other developing countries by speaking out from a sense of fairness in international and regional arenas. China will continue to support Cambodia on its efforts to safeguard national sovereignty, national dignity, and the right to development, and to explore a development path in line with its own national conditions.
Both countries should deepen economic and trade cooperation for the sake of common development and expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges to carry forward traditional friendship. Both sides should accelerate the integration of development strategies, negotiate and sign the intergovernmental cooperation documents on jointly building the Belt and Road as soon as possible, well implement the memorandum of understanding on production capacity and investment cooperation and establish a working group on production capacity cooperation at an early date so as to identify priority projects and achieve early harvest. Both sides should enhance practical cooperation in such fields as special economic zones, agriculture, transportation, infrastructure construction, and water conservancy, conduct close exchanges in culture, education, health, tourism and other fields, and enhance friendly exchanges between young people, so as to make the people of both countries active participants of China-Cambodia friendly relations.
Wang Yi stressed that this year marks the 25 anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). China and Cambodia should take this opportunity to achieve the integration of the construction of the ASEAN Community and China-ASEAN cooperation and implement outcomes yielded from the First Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders’ Meeting so as to achieve early results from the LMC, and bring more well-being for sub-regional people.
Prak Sokhon said that the Cambodian side speaks highly of the traditional friendly relations forged by leaders of the older generations of the two countries. In the new period, the Cambodia-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership has also maintained a strong development momentum. Cambodia appreciates China’s concern for Cambodia’s needs in many aspects. China has offered valuable help to Cambodia in infrastructure, energy, industry, agriculture and other fields, created a large number of job opportunities to the Cambodian people, promoted economic and social development of Cambodia and enhanced Cambodia’s capacity of independent development. Cambodia is willing to join hands with China to maintain high-level exchanges, enhance political mutual trust, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges and deepen communication and coordination in international and regional issues. Cambodia stands ready to work with China to actively advance the ASEAN-China relations and the LMC, and ensure the success of the commemorations marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN-China dialogue relations.
Prak Sokhon said that safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea is very important to both the ASEAN and China. In 2002, during Cambodia’s rotating presidency of the ASEAN, 10 ASEAN countries signed with China the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), which has greatly enhanced political mutual trust between the ASEAN and China. Cambodia hopes that all parties can fully and effectively implement the DOC, and calls on parties directly concerned to solve disputes over territory and maritime rights and interests peacefully through bilateral dialogues and negotiations.
