A cooperation meeting between the leaders of China and Mekong River nations of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam is scheduled to start on Wednesday.
With just 2 days to go till the first Lancang-Mekong River Cooperation Leaders' Meeting, we've traveled to Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, a region located at the very south of Yunnan province where the foreign ministers' meeting on Lancang-Mekong River cooperation was held last November, this region also shares borders with multiple ASEAN member states.
The Mekong River, known within Chinese territory as the Lancang River, rises from the Qinghai Plateau, flows through Southeast Asia and empties into the sea in southern Vietnam. That's why when the Lancang-Mekong cooperation framework was launched in last November, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed the view that the fates of the 6 countries within the framework are closely linked as their people drink the same water.
A recent example of the cooperation mechanism is that China has started to discharge water into the lower reaches of the Mekong River to alleviate drought in the neighboring countries. We've spoken to some local residents by the Lancang river in Jinghong, capital city of the prefecture and asked them what they think about such "good will" from China.
"The actions China took display a spirit of humanitarianism...and the philanthropy of a big nation," said Wei Yukai, Jinghong resident.
"Good relationship with the neighboring countries can bring prosperity to everyone," said resident Xie Huixin.
"The El Nino phenomenon has also affected China, what we've done is to overcome our own difficulties and offer emergency water supply to others," said resident Dao Jingmin.
The six member countries have already reached the consensus on priorities including connectivity, production capacity, trans-border economy, water resources, agriculture and poverty reduction. The cooperation in those areas caters to the needs of the six countries along the river. China's experience, technology, equipment and funds will benefit those countries, which are backward in infrastructure and industrialization.
And among the five areas, water resources cooperation is expected to be built into a flagship field in Lancang-Mekong River cooperation because the critical importance of water resources and the mutual promotion between water resources collaboration; and we expect to see on Wednesday's meeting that the six member countries stand ready to take the cooperation further and bring substantial benefits to the people in the Lancang-Mekong river community.
