China, Cambodia agree to advance Belt and Road cooperation

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Friday, with both sides agreeing to promote Belt and Road cooperation.

The two sides should engage in high-quality joint Belt and Road construction, speed up the construction of major projects such as highways, airports and special economic zones, and expand cooperation in emerging fields such as finance and digital economy, Xi said.

Xi noted that with the joint efforts of both sides, China-Cambodia relations have withstood tests and grown even more unbreakable.

Facing major global changes and the pandemic, both unseen in a century, China and Cambodia have firmly promoted the building of a community with a shared future, setting an example of forging a new type of international relations, he said.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the China-Cambodia free trade agreement should be fully tapped to push bilateral trade to a new level, Xi said.

The Chinese side will import more high-quality agricultural products from Cambodia, carry out more cooperation with Cambodia to improve people's welfare, and implement such projects related to roads and education in rural areas, so as to help develop agriculture in Cambodia and lift farmers out of poverty, he noted.

China will continue to support Cambodia in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and explore new models of people-to-people and cultural exchanges with Cambodia against the backdrop of the pandemic.

Xi stressed that China firmly supports the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the regional cooperation architecture, and supports the bloc in playing a bigger role in regional and international affairs.

China also supports Cambodia in carrying out its duty as the rotating president of ASEAN this year, Xi said, adding that China stands ready to work with Cambodia and other ASEAN countries to push for the continuous development of the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.