China, Cambodia pledge to promote pragmatic cooperation

PHNOM PENH - China and Cambodia have pledged to further promote pragmatic cooperation in a series of areas, according to a joint communique released after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang concluded an official visit to Cambodia yesterday.

The two sides decided to accelerate the effective alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and China’s 13th Five-Year Plan with Cambodia’s national development strategy and Industrial Development Policy (2015-2025), while promoting cooperation in production capacity and investment, said the communique. The committees on economic and trade cooperation of the two governments should guide enterprises of the two countries to carry out longterm win-win cooperation in various forms, it said, adding that bilateral trade should be promoted to reach the goal of 6 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. China will expand its imports from Cambodia, said the communique. “China welcomes the Cambodian government and enterprises to participate in the first China International Import Expo,” it said. China welcomes more Cambodian agricultural products that meet China’s inspection and quarantine standards and consumers’ demands to enter into the Chinese market, it said. China will help Cambodia realize development in traffic engineering, hydraulic engineering, mine clearance, education and health, it said, adding that China will actively promote the construction of projects such as Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital and Tboung Khmum Provincial Hospital.

China supports competitive and reliable Chinese enterprises in enhancing cooperation with Cambodia in infrastructure, agriculture, water resources, energy, telecommunications, industry and tourism, said the communique. China will continue to build and operate the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) and actively participate in the construction of a high-speed way linking the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville port and a new airport in Siem Reap, a popular resort town in northwestern Cambodia. The SSEZ, jointly established by China and Cambodia in 2008, is the biggest special economic zone in Cambodia. It has attracted more than 100 companies from China and other countries and created nearly 20,000 jobs for the local community. (Xinhua)