China eyes cooperation plan for Lancang-Mekong countries

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham, and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh pose for photos in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, March 22, 2016. The first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting will be held on Wednesday in Sanya. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

SANYA, Hainan, March 22 -- China on Tuesday called on countries along the Lancang-Mekong River to make the upcoming leaders' meeting fruitful for future cooperation.

Premier Li Keqiangmade the remarks while addressing a welcoming banquet prior to the first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting to be held on Wednesday in Sanya, a coastal city in southern China's Hainan Province.

Li, and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha; Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen; Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong; Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham; and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh will attend the "shared river, shared future" themed meeting.

Li said institutionalized cooperation among the six countries will help maintain regional peace and stability, give full play to each country's resources, industries and market, and provide more support to the region's social and economic development.

The LMC will also supplement relations between China and ASEAN, the premier added.

The foreign ministers of China and Thailand also met on Tuesday evening in Sanya, pledging to make the leaders' meeting a success.

China was ready to work with all five countries to make the LMC mechanism a model of south-south cooperation, a platform of unity and cooperation, and a showcase of the mutual support between neighboring countries, Wang Yi said, during his meeting with Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai.

Wang also spoke highly of the contribution made by Thailand, who jointly initiated the LMC mechanism and will co-chair the leaders' meeting.

Don Pramudwinai echoed Wang, and said LMC played an important leading role in regional development. He pledged to work with China and other parties to make the first leaders' meeting a success.

He said the recent move by China to release water to aid countries in the lower reaches of the Lancang-Mekong River, who were suffering from drought, demonstrated its sincerity, and commitment to the LMC.

The LMC, proposed in 2014, will focus on security and development, as well as political, social and cultural fields. Interconnectivity, production capacity, cross-border economy, water resources, agriculture and poverty alleviation are five priority directions for cooperation.