PR99562

BEIJING, Feb. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

More than one million vehicles had travelled on Cambodia's first-ever

expressway connecting the capital Phnom Penh and the deep-sea port province of

Preah Sihanouk in the first three months since its inauguration on October 1

last year.

The 187-km-long freeway, invested by the China Road and Bridge Corporation with

$2 billion, is one of the results of cooperation between China and Cambodia

under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

There's a proverb in Cambodia saying "there is road, there is hope." Cambodian

Prime Minister Hun Sen once said China has built a lot of roads and bridges for

Cambodia, so it means that China has built a lot of hope for the Cambodian

people.

Hun Sen visited China in February, 2020, when the COVID-19 epidemic situation

in the country was still grave. Recalling that meeting, Chinese President Xi

Jinping Friday said the visit was a token of support and that Hun Sen stood

firmly with the Chinese people in their fight against COVID-19.

"It gives me great pleasure to work with you to realize our three-year

appointment and open a new era of building a China-Cambodia community with a

shared future at the start of spring," Xi told Hun Sen at the Diaoyutai State

Guesthouse in Beijing.

All-round cooperation

Xi pointed out that the two sides can build a cooperation framework in six

major areas: politics, production capacity, agriculture, energy, security and

people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Hun Sen expressed his full agreement

with the idea.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact and the

China-Cambodia Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) entered into force on January 1,

2022. According to the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy to

Cambodia, the trade volume between China and Cambodia hit $14.5 billion from

January to November 2022, a year-on-year increase of 19.1 percent.

On Friday, Xi stressed that China will also encourage more Chinese enterprises

to invest in Cambodia, help in the construction of the Sihanoukville Special

Economic zone, and support building transportation infrastructure.

As well as the expressway, China-funded projects such as national roads,

hospitals, rural road and clean water supply, went into operation in Cambodia

in 2022, and more agricultural products such as longan, corn and pangasius,

gained official access to the Chinese market.

Also, a team of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) experts came to Cambodia

last March to help the Southeast Asian nation fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for people-to-people and cultural exchanges, Xi noted the Chinese side will

give priority to restoring and increasing direct flights between China and

Cambodia, encouraging tourism cooperation and carrying out cultural heritage

protection and restoration work.

China has helped restore ruined temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park since

1997 by successfully restoring the Chau Say Tevoda temple and the Ta Keo temple.

'Development is not the prerogative of a few'

During the meeting, the Chinese president also emphasized that development is

not the prerogative of a few nations.

The acts of engaging in rivalry of systems or ideological confrontation,

politicizing and weaponizing economic, trade, scientific and technological

exchanges, forcing the decoupling and breaking of the chain, curbing and

suppressing the development of other countries, and requiring countries in the

region to choose sides, are all power politics and hegemonic practices, and can

never be popular, said Xi.

China stands on the right side of history and will resolutely safeguard

national sovereignty, security, and development interests, as well as

international fairness and justice, Xi vowed.

Hun Sen said the China-proposed BRI, the Global Development Initiative (GDI)

and the Global Security Initiative (GSI) are of great significance to maintain

world peace and promote common development, adding the Cambodian side will

actively support and participate.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn has said the

GDI "is another public good that China provides to the rest of the world,"

adding it is crucial in supporting the least developed countries to recover

from the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce poverty.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-02-10/Chinese-President-Xi-Jinping-meets-with-Cambodian-PM-Hun-Sen-1hj96Mwlwha/index.html

SOURCE CGTN