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Chinese Premier calls for greater connectivity and cooperation with Mekong River Countries
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The eighth Greater Mekong Subregion Summit held in Kunming, Yunnan,
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Greater Mekong Subregion Summit has long been a symbol of resilience and cooperation says Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank
- Cooperation between China and the Mekong countries accelerates regional economy, and regional connectivity
By: Muhammad Arif, Editor NSN.Asia
Kunming: Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday called for greater connectivity and cooperation between China and the five Mekong River countries in pursuit of common development.
Chinese Premier Li made these remarks while addressing the eighth Greater Mekong Subregion Summit attended by the heads of government of the five Mekong River countries, namely, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, and president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The eighth Greater Mekong Subregion Summit was held in Kunming, Yunnan from Nov. 6 to 7, 2024.
Greater Mekong Subregion Summit focused on fostering regional cooperation in key areas including regional connectivity and trade and investment, in a bid to promote sustainable development and economic integration in the region.
Mao Ning, spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced on Monday that leaders of the five Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, and President of the Asian Development Bank attended the summit upon China’s invitation.
Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, in his remarks at the 8th Greater Mekong Subregion Summit, said the GMS has long been a symbol of resilience and cooperation.
The GMS countries have not just responded. You have taken bold steps to tackle these challenges head-on. The GMS 2030 Strategic Framework, endorsed at our last Summit, is a visionary strategy that addresses today’s issues while preparing for tomorrow’s opportunities. Alongside the new GMS Innovation Strategy and Digitalization Action Plan, you are positioning the subregion to embrace new technologies and drive prosperity, he added.
By accelerating digital transformation, the GMS is safeguarding its competitiveness and resilience and setting a global example for regional cooperation. Expanding digital infrastructure, improving access, and integrating advanced technologies lay the foundation for inclusive and sustainable growth, he emphasized.
ADB’s role in this journey is clear. We are strengthening our support for digital transformation, helping countries build capacity in critical areas like digital infrastructure, connectivity, and governance, he noted.
Moreover, as the climate bank for Asia and the Pacific, we are uniquely positioned to support your climate ambitions. In fact, ADB is committed to delivering over $100 billion in climate finance by the end of the decade through our Climate Change Action Plan 2023–2030, he noted.
Greater Mekong Subregion Summit 2024 held in Kunming, Yunnan, from Nov 6 to 7, 2024 NSN Asia
Also, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended a document exchange ceremony for the establishment of Vietnam’s consulate general in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality.
China has always placed its relations with Myanmar at an important position in China’s neighborhood diplomacy, and will always support Myanmar in choosing a development path suited to its national conditions, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said while meeting with Myanmar’s leader Min Aung Hlaing, in Kunming, Yunnan alongside the eighth Greater Mekong Subregion Summit.
Since its inception over three decades ago, with the concerted efforts of the six GMS member countries, the GMS has vigorously advanced coordinated economic and social development and regional integration, bringing tangible benefits to the people of these countries, Mao said on Monday.
Cooperation between China and the Mekong countries, which is based on mutual respect and win-win development, will continue to promote the stable development of the regional economy, setting a good example for regional connectivity, especially in a world where the unilateralism is on the rise, analysts noted.
Chen Xiangmiao, director of the World Navy Research Center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies said that new energy cooperation, joint law enforcement and disaster prevention will be the new emphasis during the summit.
Southeast Asian countries are speeding up their pace in developing new energy, and this sector is the highlight of China’s cooperation with regional countries. Moreover, in recent years, China has conducted intensive joint law enforcement operations with Lancang-Mekong regional countries to crack down on telecom fraud, Chen told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Chen said that action on joint disaster prevention is expected to be discussed during the summit, noting that China could share its technology on forecasting and share meteorological data and its experience on how to prevent flooding.
In addition, water resource management of the Mekong River, infrastructure connectivity and the construction of cross-border economic cooperation zones could be in the spotlight, Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
In the first half of this year, total trade volume between China and Mekong countries exceeded $200 billion, a 12 percent increase year-on-year.
Connectivity between China and the five Mekong countries has also continuously improved.
The opening of the China-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway marks a leap forward in the national highway transportation of Cambodia, the China-Laos railway is helping Laos move toward the goal of becoming a “land-linked country,” and the construction of the China-Laos-Thailand railway is being accelerated.
This year, nearly 900,000 personal trips from member countries of the GMS have been cleared at Mohan Port in Yunnan Province, on China’s border with Laos, up 116.3 percent year-on-year, China Media Group reported on Wednesday.
The daily average number of inbound and outbound trips from the GMS at the port increased from over 1,300 in 2023 to more than 2,800 this year, and cross-region people-to-people exchanges and economic and trade cooperation have been active, read the report.
Xu noted that among the many regional cooperation mechanisms, China’s cooperation with Mekong countries has seen remarkable achievements, which demonstrates the practicality and efficiency of collaboration between China and these countries, and this will further release investment and trade vitality in the region.
“With pragmatic projects advancing, China, which has contributed to bridging the development gaps of these countries, will continue to be an engine to share development opportunities with the region,” Zhou Shixin, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
