Wang Yi meets Cambodian officials as two countries deepen coopearation

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Beijing on Friday with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol, who were accompanying Cambodian People's Party President and Senate President Samdech Techo Hun Sen on his visit to China.

Wang said China highly values the long-standing China-Cambodia friendship fostered and nurtured by elder generations of leaders from both countries.

China is committed to carrying forward this bond and building China-Cambodia relations into a model for ties with neighboring countries, Wang added.

Against the backdrop of a turbulent and complex international landscape, both countries should steadily advance their respective national development, he said, adding that China will always serve as Cambodia's solid strategic anchor, reliable cooperative partner and ironclad friend with a shared destiny.

Wang called on both sides to coordinate needs for development and security, deepen pragmatic cooperation in political, economic and various other fields, enrich the connotation of bilateral relations, and break new ground for building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future.

Sokhonn said Cambodia attaches great importance to its diplomatic relations with China and speaks highly of China's growing influential role in international and regional affairs.

Cambodia stands ready to work with China to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' leaders, maintain frequent high-level exchanges, further consolidate strategic mutual trust, strengthen solidarity and collaboration and jointly uphold multilateralism and the basic norms governing international relations, Sokhonn added.

Chanthol expressed Cambodia's readiness to leverage the coordinating role of the intergovernmental joint committee between the two countries.

Cambodia will strengthen alignment of national development plans with China, and deepen practical cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure construction and other key areas, Chanthol said.

He welcomed more Chinese investment and invited Chinese companies to operate in Cambodia, adding that the government will create a safe and business-friendly environment.