China ready to expand economic, trade cooperation with Cambodia -- premier

KUALA LUMPUR -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Tuesday that China is ready to work with Cambodia to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, so as to further expand economic and trade cooperation.

Li made the remarks in his meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on the sidelines of the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-China-GCC (the Gulf Cooperation Council) Summit.

Li said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has lately paid a historic visit to Cambodia, during which both sides jointly announced the building of an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era.

China-Cambodia relations have once again taken the lead in building a community with a shared future for mankind, and the ironclad friendship between the two countries has been further deepened, he added.

China stands ready to work with Cambodia to follow through on the outcomes of Xi's visit, strengthen high-level exchanges, deepen political mutual trust, make good use of the China-Cambodia Intergovernmental Coordination Committee, and steadily advance practical cooperation across various fields, Li said.

The Chinese premier called on China and Cambodia to respond to external uncertainties with the certainty of building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future, jointly promote their economic development and safeguard their common interests.

China is willing to work with Cambodia to accelerate the synergy between high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and Cambodia's Pentagonal Strategy, speed up the implementation of the cooperation plans for the Industrial Development Corridor and the Fish and Rice Corridor, and create more new highlights of cooperation and foster new areas for growth, Li noted.

Encouraging more Chinese enterprises to invest in Cambodia, China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Cambodia in such areas as infrastructure, digital economy, advanced manufacturing and clean energy, he said.

China and Cambodia have achieved positive results in recent joint efforts to combat cross-border crimes, Li said, calling for stronger and more effective measures to safeguard the safety and security of the two peoples.

At present, the international situation is becoming more turbulent and chaotic, Li noted.

China is willing to work with Cambodia and other countries in the region to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, jointly oppose unilateralism and power politics, safeguard international fairness and justice, uphold the multilateral trading system and maintain the stable and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, so as to inject more positive energy into world peace, stability, prosperity and development, he said.

For his part, Hun Manet said that Xi's successful visit to Cambodia last month established a new milestone in the ironclad friendship between the two countries.

Cambodia firmly adheres to the one-China policy, supports China's legitimate position on issues concerning its core interests, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Xizang, and opposes external interference in China's internal affairs, Hun Manet added.

He said the Cambodian side stands ready to work with China to follow through on the outcomes of Xi's visit, maintain high-level exchanges, give full play to the role of various dialogue mechanisms, boost practical cooperation, enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and jointly combat cross-border crimes.

Noting that Cambodia supports the three global initiatives proposed by Xi, Hun Manet said that Cambodia looks forward to working with China to further strengthen multilateral coordination, uphold multilateralism, oppose protectionism, maintain regional security and stability, and promote global common development.