China Cambodia Photo: VCG

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday exchanged congratulatory messages with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cambodia.

Since their establishment 65 years ago, China-Cambodia diplomatic ties have stood the test of time and vicissitudes in the international arena, and grown from strength to strength, Xi said.

Xi noted that at the beginning of this year, he and King Sihamoni met in Beijing and have exchanged correspondence many times, bringing the cause of building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future into a new era featuring high quality, high level and high standard.

The "diamond hexagon" cooperation framework between China and Cambodia covering politics, production capacity, agriculture, energy, security and people-to-people exchanges has been continuously deepened and enriched, Xi said.

Xi also said that remarkable progress has been made in building the "Industrial Development Corridor" and the "Fish and Rice Corridor," adding that a series of events celebrating the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties and the China-Cambodia Friendship Year have been held.

Stressing that he highly regards the development of China-Cambodia relations, Xi said he is willing to work with King Sihamoni to push for more fruits in the China-Cambodia friendship and bring tangible benefits to the two peoples.

Sihamoni said the traditional friendship of the two countries dates back a long time, and on the basis of high-level mutual trust, mutual benefit and win-win results, the two countries have established a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, are jointly building a community with a shared future and have forged an ironclad friendship.

King Sihamoni said he firmly believes that under the new circumstances, the Cambodia-China friendly ties and mutually-beneficial cooperation will surely be strengthened, and the ironclad friendship will be passed down through the generations.

The Cambodian side, Sihamoni said, is willing to deepen cooperation in all fields with China, so as to benefit the two nations and promote regional and world peace, stability and prosperity.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang also exchanged congratulations with his Cambodian counterpart, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, on Wednesday.

Li said he is ready to work with Hun Sen to instruct various departments and regions in the two countries to cooperate closely to push for more practical results in the comprehensive strategic cooperation between the two countries.

Hun Sen said Cambodia firmly adheres to the one-China policy and supports the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and other important proposals.

In the "new era" of development of bilateral ties, China and Cambodia is likely to double down cooperation under the framework of BRI, Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and other cooperation frameworks, to achieve more results in the fields of economy, poverty relief, people-to-people exchanges and other areas, Chen Xiangmiao, director of the world navy research center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Chen noted that as the situation around the South China Sea is becoming more complicated due to the interference of extraterritorial countries, the solid friendship between China and Cambodia is expected to play a guiding role for regional countries to remain rational on this issue. Moreover, China-Cambodia tie can also serve as a model for China's relationship with ASEAN countries, according to Chen.