Princess Arunrasmy (R) (photo/People' Daily)

The “Belt and Road” initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping will bring peace,prosperity and development to Cambodia, Southeast Asia, and even the world at large, said Princess Norodom Arunrasmy of Cambodia in a recent exclusive interview with People's Daily.

Arunrasmy is the youngest daughter of the late king father Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and also an important member of the Cambodian royal family.

Forging an indissoluble bond with China long ago, the princess has been a witness and propeller of bilateral cooperation and friendship.

Arunrasmy shared her memory of Xi's visit to Cambodia last October, saying that she was entrusted by Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk with the reception of Xi at the airport together with Prince Kong Sam Ol and Prince Norodom Chakrapong.

"It is indeed a family tradition of the Sihanouks," the princess recalled, explaining that she was once appointed as a representative of her father to welcome the guests at the airport when she was a little girl.

"China is Cambodia's closest friend, and it was my honor to be the Queen Mother's envoy to receive Xi at the airport," she said, adding that it also reflected the priority given by the royal family to China-Cambodia relations.

Arunrasmy and her husband Keo Puth Reasmey recounted the profound relationship between the Cambodian royal family and China.

The princess told People's Daily that she was born in 1955 when the King Father Norodom Sihanouk and former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai made the historical meeting at the Bandung Conference.

"My husband and me got married in Beijing, and China is also the birth place of my daughter," Arunrasmy introduced, adding that her daughter is currently studying in Beijing.

It was China that lent a helpful hand to the King Father Norodom Sihanouk in 1970s when he was forced to be exiled because of the coup of Lon Nol administration. According to Arunrasmy, her father loved China very much, and he had even composed a song eulogizing the Cambodia-China friendship.

With a belief that to develop friendly relationship with China is one of the wisest decisions made by her father, she pointed out that till now, the country is still following his instruction to develop the ties with China.

"The world has witnessed the huge achievements brought by my father's brilliant decision," the princess noted.

Arunrasmy and her husband also hailed the time-honored friendship between the two countries. The Chinese envoy Zhou Daguan in Yuan Dynasty had stayed in Cambodia for a year, and his work, The Customs of Cambodia, has become the most important historical material to study Angkor.

Zheng He, who was sent to western oceans for expedition by Yongle Emperor Zhu Di of Chinese Ming Dynasty, had also stationed in Cambodia for times, they reviewed.

"In addition to caravans, silk, porcelains and advanced technologies, the Chinese have also brought peace and development at the same time to Cambodia and the countries in Southeast Asia," said the princess, stressing that it is totally different from the invasions and wars brought by the western colonists.