Wang Yi to chair 8th Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting

Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) co-chair Myanmar's Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Than Swe will jointly host the eighth LMC Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Beijing on December 7, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced on Wednesday.

When asked about how China views the current development of the LMC at a regular press briefing, Wang Wenbin said since the launch of the LMC seven years ago, the six LMC countries have discussed, built and shared the LMC platform based on mutual benefit, win-win results and common development, achieving a series of practical results.

Connectivity projects, such as the China-Laos Railway, the China-Thailand Railway and the Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, have accelerated regional economic, trade and personnel exchanges, doubling the annual trade volume between China and the Mekong countries in the past seven years, he said.

The LMC Special Fund has supported the implementation of hundreds of cooperation projects that benefit people's livelihoods, such as the Lancang-Mekong Sweet Spring Project and the Green Lancang-Mekong Initiative, bringing tangible benefits to people of all countries, said Wang Wenbin.

China attaches great importance to the meeting and looks forward to exchanging in-depth views with the Mekong countries on promoting a deeper and more substantial LMC through the meeting, he said, calling for jointly building a high-quality Belt and Road demonstration zone, a pilot zone for the Global Development Initiative, an experimental zone for the Global Security Initiative and a premier zone for the Global Civilization Initiative.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover: A file photo of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. /Xinhua)