PHNOM PENH - Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his state visit to Cambodia on Friday, with both nations agreeing on jointly building an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era.

Xi returned to Beijing on Friday afternoon after wrapping up state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia. 

On Thursday, Xi met with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, Cambodian People's Party President and Senate President Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk, respectively.

The two sides exchanged more than 30 bilateral cooperation documents covering such fields as production and supply chain cooperation, artificial intelligence, development assistance, customs inspection and quarantine, as well as health and media.

All-weather community with shared future

"We must work together to promote the steady and sustained progress in building the China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era," Xi wrote in his signed article published on Thursday in Cambodian media outlets.

During their talks, Xi and the Cambodian prime minister agreed to build an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era.

Xi called on both sides to build on the momentum, strengthen unity and cooperation, and speed up the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.

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During his meeting with the Cambodian King, Xi expressed confidence in writing a splendid chapter of building an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era.

China and Cambodia have always been at the forefront of building a community with a shared future for mankind, said Xi.

For his part, King Sihamoni said that with the joint efforts of both sides, cooperation in various fields has become increasingly close and the building of a community with a shared future has been continuously deepened.

While meeting with the Cambodian People's Party president and Senate president, Xi said that building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future is a choice of history and the people.

He said that the two sides should keep in mind the well-being of their people and the progress of humanity, strive to set an example for building a community with a shared future for mankind in the course of advancing their respective modernization endeavors, and join hands to become forces for peace, stability and progress in a world undergoing profound transformations unseen in a century.

Unbreakable ironclad friendship

Friendship is a term frequently emphasized by Xi during his trip to the country.

In the signed article, Xi said this visit "feels like going to the home of a good friend."

He fondly recalled the historic legacy of the good-neighborly relations between the two nations and the friendly exchange that spans two millennia of their shared history.

"The great Chinese and Khmer civilizations have flourished together, inspiring each other through centuries," he wrote.

Xi also highlighted the two countries' mutual commitment to friendship and righteousness, emphasizing that the friendship was forged by Cambodia's King Father Norodom Sihanouk and Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, among the elder generations of Chinese leaders.

In 2020, Xi presented Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk with the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China. This medal, Xi said, embodies "the profound friendship of the Chinese people toward the people of Cambodia."

When meeting with the Queen Mother on Thursday at the Royal Palace, Xi said she is a witness and promoter of the China-Cambodia friendship and has special friendly feelings towards the Chinese people, while Cambodia's King Father Norodom Sihanouk was a banner of this friendship.

Under the new circumstances, China and Cambodia should cherish and carry forward this ironclad friendship, endow the China-Cambodia community with a shared future with new connotations of the time, serve the development of their respective countries and the well-being of their people, and make greater contributions to building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said when meeting with King Norodom Sihamoni on Thursday.

King Norodom Sihamoni presented Xi with the National Order of Independence - Grand Collar.

Xi said that this medal fully demonstrates Cambodia's high regard for developing China-Cambodia relations and carries the deep friendship of the Cambodian people towards the Chinese people.

This honor, he said, belongs not only to him personally, but also to all the friendly people who have cultivated and contributed to the friendship between China and Cambodia.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin has said in a written interview with Xinhua that as history and reality have both proven, China and Cambodia are good neighbors, good brothers, good friends and good partners who share weal and woe and stand together through thick and thin.

The friendship between the two countries is not a transactional relationship, nor a stopgap measure, still less a bloc confrontation. It is rooted in the practical needs of the respective national development and rejuvenation, serves the common interests of both nations and peoples, and aligns with the historical trend of solidarity, self-strengthening and shared development among Global South countries, Wang said.

Strive together, thrive together

In his signed article, Xi said that as important members of the big Asian family, China and Cambodia must ride the tide of history and heed the two peoples' aspirations, and must strive together and thrive together.

Noting that this is his second visit to Cambodia in nine years, Xi expressed hope that the visit will spearhead progress in building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future.

For many years, China has been Cambodia's largest trading partner and top source of investment, and industrial and supply chain cooperation between the two countries has continued to deepen. The entry into force of both the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the China-Cambodia Free Trade Agreement has further strengthened the foundation for bilateral trade and investment.

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Thanks to such free trade agreements, premium agricultural products from Cambodia, including banana, mango and longan, are finding their way into Chinese households.

"China is a trustworthy partner for Cambodia," said the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Penn Sovicheat. "Looking forward, our two-way trade volume will continue to rise, undoubtedly."

During talks with Hun Manet, Xi urged the two sides to expand mutually beneficial cooperation of higher quality and voiced China's readiness to share opportunities and seek common development with Cambodia.

He called on both sides to vigorously promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and continuously enrich the "Diamond Hexagon" cooperation framework, so as to inject new impetus into their respective modernization efforts.

China encourages more Chinese enterprises to invest in Cambodia, Xi said, adding that it will open its mega-market to Cambodia and import more high-quality agricultural products from the country.

In his meeting with Hun Sen, the Chinese president said the two sides should deepen practical cooperation across various fields, advance the construction of Cambodia's Industrial and Technological Corridor and Fish and Rice Corridor, and strengthen collaboration in energy, transportation and other key sectors.

In view of the headwinds on the international landscape, Xi said unilateralism and hegemonism receive no support of the people, adding that history has shown the unstoppable trend toward a multipolar world, economic globalization, and cultural diversity.