Chinese Foreign Minister associates with Laotian Foreign Minister
The tenth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in Anning, Yunnan Province, China, on August 15, 2025. This significant event marked the 10th anniversary of the LMC mechanism, which was initiated in 2015 to promote regional cooperation among China and five Southeast Asian countries sharing the Mekong River.
The meeting, co-chaired by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Thailand’s Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, brought together representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR, Thongsavanh Phomvihane.
The main objective of the meeting was to celebrate a decade of progress under the LMC. Over the past ten years, trade between China and the Mekong countries increased by 125%, reaching 437 billion US dollars, and key cooperation areas such as infrastructure connectivity, industrial and supply chain integration, and innovation development have been significantly strengthened.
The meeting aimed to review and summarize the achievements and experience of the LMC, with emphasis on the “LMC culture” featuring equality, sincerity, mutual assistance, kinship, and the spirit of development, pragmatism, openness, and inclusiveness. The meeting also prepared for the upcoming Leaders’ Meeting to advance cooperation to a new stage and elevate the mechanism to a higher level.
The participants also focused on strengthening solidarity, openness, and cooperation across various fields amidst a complex international landscape. This included promoting multilateralism, safeguarding free trade, combating cross-border crime, and maintaining regional peace, stability, and prosperity.
Future cooperation priorities such as economic development, agriculture, energy security, water resource management, climate change, disaster management, combating transnational crimes, and people-to-people exchanges were also discussed. The goal was to build a more resilient Lancang-Mekong Economic Development Belt and a closer community with a shared future to deliver greater stability, sustainable development, and improved well-being for people in the region.
The meeting resulted in the adoption of outcome documents to guide further cooperation and the implementation of pilot projects emphasizing innovation as a driving force.
During the meeting, Wang Yi also held a meeting with Thongsavanh Phomvihane, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR. This meeting, like the main event, was focused on deepening cooperation and advancing the LMC's objectives. The meeting was captured by Xinhua, a Chinese news agency.
Wang Yi is a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, underscoring the importance of the LMC and China's commitment to this cooperation. The LMC Foreign Ministers' Meeting is an international gathering focused on cooperation between China and the Mekong River countries, aiming to foster regional integration, sustainable development, and shared prosperity.
[1] Xinhua News Agency [2] China Daily [3] People's Daily [4] South China Morning Post [5] Global Times
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