On August 27, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) issued a statement welcoming China's sharing of hydrological information on the Lancang River throughout the year and the establishment of an information sharing platform for water resources cooperation led by China and Myanmar.
Four years since the launch of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) mechanism, the parties have held the first Ministerial Meeting and cooperation Forum on Water Resources and have smoothly operated the Centre for Cooperation on Water Resources and the Environment and the Global Mekong River Research Centre. The LMC Special Fund is heavily invested in improving people's lives and has sponsored over 400 programs in health, education, poverty reduction and women's welfare.
Faced with COVID-19 since early this year, the countries have pulled together and supported each other in combating the virus and reviving regional growth. In the first half of this year, China’s trade and investment in Mekong countries grew by 8.7% and 33.5% respectively, bucking the trend of a global slowdown. Mekong countries saw their agricultural exports to China rise by 21.2% over the same period. In addition, ASEAN, where the five Mekong countries are located, has surpassed the United States and the European Union to become China's largest trading partner in goods.
In the context of a fluid and complex international situation which has brought severe shocks to the global and regional economies, in order to sustain the good momentum of our cooperation to help tackle risks and challenges and achieve shared progress, countries should uphold the spirit of openness and inclusiveness, and properly accommodate the interests and concerns of all parties, expand trade ties and connectivity cooperation, deepen cooperation on sustainable development and strengthen cooperation on public health to improve people’s livelihood.