Cambodian, Chinese top diplomats pledge to advance ties

Cambodian and Chinese top diplomats on Wednesday pledged to maintain and further heighten bilateral ties and cooperation for the mutual benefits of the two countries and peoples. The pledge came after a bilateral talk between Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. … Wang also expressed his congratulations to Hor Namhong on the victory of the Cambodian People’s Party of incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen in the general election last month and hoped that Cambodian political parties would solve remaining problems related to the poll peacefully. … Cambodia and China have witnessed rapid development of the bilateral relations in the last decade. The ties reached the top level of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation in December, 2010. China is the top investor in Cambodia. According to the figures of the Council for Development of Cambodia, from 1994 to 2012, total Chinese investment in Cambodia has reached 9.17 billion U.S. dollars. On the bilateral trade, China is also one of the leading trading partners of Cambodia. Last year, the bilateral trade volume accounted for 2.9 billion U.S. dollars and it is expected to reach 5 billion U.S. dollars by 2017. In terms of tourism, Cambodia received 334,000 Chinese visitors in 2012, up 35 percent year-on-year, and during the first six months of this year, some 231,000 Chinese had visited Cambodia, up 55 percent compared with the same period last year.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-08/21/c_132650650.htm