China, Cambodia agree to build all-weather community with shared future in new era

PHNOM PENH -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Thursday agreed to build an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era, and designated 2025 the China-Cambodia Year of Tourism.

Xi said the ironclad friendship between China and Cambodia enjoys a profound history, a solid political foundation and a strong internal driving force, adding that no matter how the international situation changes, the two countries have always been at the forefront of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xi noted that at present, changes unseen in a century are accelerating, saying that deepening the building of the China-Cambodia community with a shared future is fully in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples.

China will, as always, support Cambodia in following a development path that suits its national conditions, support the Cambodian government's successful governance of the country, and back Cambodia in playing a more important role in international and regional affairs, he added.

Xi called on both sides to take the building of an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era as a new starting point, build on the momentum, continue to implement a new action plan on building the China-Cambodia community with a shared future, strengthen unity and cooperation, and speed up the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.

He also urged the two sides to deepen political mutual trust at a higher level, expand mutually beneficial cooperation of higher quality, consolidate security guarantees of a higher level, carry out people-to-people and cultural exchanges at a higher frequency, and strengthen strategic coordination of higher standards, so as to bring greater benefits to the two peoples.

The Chinese president called for maximizing the role of the China-Cambodia Intergovernmental Coordination Committee, ensuring the strategic dialogues between the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries a success, strengthening exchanges through such channels as political parties and legislative bodies, jointly addressing risks and challenges, and safeguarding the common interests of both sides.

The Chinese side, Xi said, is ready to share opportunities and seek common development with Cambodia.

He called on both sides to vigorously promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and continuously enrich the "Diamond Hexagon" cooperation framework, so as to inject new impetus into their respective modernization efforts.

China, Xi said, encourages more Chinese enterprises to invest in Cambodia, adding that it will open its mega-market to Cambodia and import more high-quality agricultural products from the country.

The people of the two countries should enhance mutual understanding and friendly feelings for each other, and promote exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Cambodian civilizations, he added.

China will continue to offer government scholarships to Cambodia, support the establishment of a dialogue and exchange mechanism for youths between the two countries, and encourage more exchanges at the local level, as well as between media outlets and think tanks, so as to bring the people of the two countries closer and closer, he said.

He called on the two countries take stronger and more effective measures to resolutely crack down on online gambling and telecom fraud, and to maintain social stability and the normal order of exchanges among regional countries.

Xi said China and Cambodia, important forces in the Global South, should stick to the common values of peace, unity and cooperation.

He called on both sides to oppose unilateral bullying, practice true multilateralism, firmly oppose bloc confrontation, strengthen coordination and cooperation within the frameworks of ASEAN and Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, and jointly safeguard hard-won regional peace and development, so as to contribute to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

For his part, Hun Manet said Cambodia and China have long respected each other and treated each other as equals, hailing China as Cambodia's most reliable and trustworthy friend.

He said Xi's visit is of great significance, which will deepen political mutual trust between the two countries and effectively promote the building of an all-weather Cambodia-China community with a shared future in the new era.

Hailing China's achievements in economic and social development, Hun Manet said he firmly believes that under Xi's strong leadership, China will achieve the Second Centenary Goal as scheduled. He thanked China for its strong support for Cambodia's economic development and for safeguarding its independence.

The prime minister said Cambodia firmly adheres to the one-China policy and supports China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, noting that Cambodia is firmly committed to its friendship with China and is willing to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen strategic and security cooperation, and deepen the ironclad friendship.

Noting that China is Cambodia's largest trading partner and the top source of investment, Hun Manet said Cambodia is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in such areas as economy and trade, investment, industrial and supply chains, agriculture and infrastructure, jointly combat online gambling and telecom fraud, strengthen people-to-people exchanges in such fields as education and culture, and ensure the Cambodia-China Year of Tourism a success.

He said Cambodia highly appreciates China's active role in international and regional affairs, and supports Xi's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, as well as the three major global initiatives and the Belt and Road cooperation proposed by Xi.

Amid global turbulence caused by unilateralism and shocks to the multilateral trading system, China has played a leading role and provided valuable stability to the world, Hun Manet said, adding that Cambodia is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to safeguard their common interests.

After the meeting, leaders of the two countries witnessed the exchange of more than 30 bilateral cooperation documents covering fields including production and supply chain cooperation, artificial intelligence, development assistance, customs inspection and quarantine, as well as health and news.