PM Hun Manet Embarks on First Official Visit to China
PM Hun Manet and his wife Pich Chanmony depart for China on Sept. 14. Photo: Ministry of Information
- By Torn Chanritheara
- September 14, 2023 12:46 PM
PHNOM PENH – Prime Minister Hun Manet made his first official foreign visit to China on Sept. 14. The trip is expected to foster ties.
In Beijing, Manet will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and hold talks with his counterpart Li Qiang. He will also meet Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress during the three-day trip.
The PM’s spokesperson, Meas Sophorn, said several documents would be signed during the visit.
Sophorn said that Manet will be received and have a royal audience with King Norodom Sihamoni, who is in the Chinese capital for medical check-up.
Manet will then leave for the 20th ASEAN-China Expo in Guangxi province’s Nanning city. The Prime Minister is due to meet Guangxi’s Communist Party Chief Liu Ning.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the visit, which coincides with the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, will further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the countries.
“It will enhance the Diamond Cooperation Framework and promote collaboration across various regional and international platforms, delivering mutual benefits to both countries and peoples,” it said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a news briefing the first official visit by Hun Manet as PM showed the great importance the new Cambodian government attached to China-Cambodia relations.
“China hopes to, through this visit, chart the course for the comprehensive strategic cooperation between the two countries in the next stage,” she said.
“In particular, we hope to deliver on the cooperation initiatives such as the industrial development corridor and the fish and rice corridor at an early date, and jointly usher in a new era of building a high-quality, high-level and high-standard China-Cambodia community with a shared future.”
The relationship between the countries was upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2010.
