China Premier Li to attend Greater Mekong summit for first time

World Today

Thailand is the last leg of Premier Li Keqiang’s three-nation tour in Asia and Europe, where he will attend the fifth Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Summit. The meeting is expected to create more enhanced cooperation and regional integration between the members. CCTV’s Su Yuting reported this story from Beijing.

This summit is the first time Li has attended the event, and experts said his presence will play a crucial role in pushing forward sub-regional cooperation.

“The main model for cooperation is the projects. By the end of last year, there [were] about 260 projects in this framework; it includes almost 17 billion US dollars. This means a lot of opportunities for regional development,” Su Xiao Hui of the China Institute of International Studies, said. “Premier Li Keqaing’s visit this time means China’s hope to play a more important role in the framework and contribute to regional development.”

The Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program was developed by the Asian Development Bank in 1992 and is made up of six member nations in the Mekong River Basin: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Cooperation with the Greater Mekong Subregion, along with ASEAN, are key tools in China’s foreign policy toward its neighbors. It’s been used to make contributions in areas such as financial assistance, infrastructure building, agricultural technology and non-traditional security.