More Lancang-Mekong connectivity encouraged

China has called for greater trade connectivity among countries of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation by aligning with the new land-sea corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The proposal, made by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday at the fifth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in the Laotian capital Vientiane, was positively received by participants.

It would allow products from Lancang-Mekong countries to directly enter markets in the central and western regions of China, and then be transported to Central Asia and Europe, Wang said at a joint news conference with Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith after the meeting.

According to Wang, better infrastructure interconnectivity and greater facilitation of trade and customs clearance can drive cooperation in terms of production capacity, cross-border business and industrial park development, thus speeding up the building of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Economic Development Belt.

Building the economic development belt was a consensus reached at the second LMC leaders’ meeting in 2018. Its core intention is to rely on the LancangMekong golden waterway and utilize key industrial towns and major infrastructure projects to cover and facilitate the development of the entire Lancang-Mekong River basin.

Wang also called for joint efforts to cope with the severe drought along the Lancang River, also known as the Mekong River outside of China.