1、Chinese President Hu Jintao is now due to begin a state visit to Cambodia.As CRIs Su Yi reports, given that Cambodia holds the rotating presidency of ASEAN, the trip is being viewed as an opportunity to expand Chinas relationship with its Southeast Asian neighbors.Cambodia is a traditionally friendl
2、y neighbor to China. According to Yang Baojun, deputy director of the Southeast Asia Studies Center at Peking University, there are three characteristics in Sino-Cambodia relations.First of all, the relationship has a long history, especially after King Sihanouk attended the Bandung Conference in 19
3、55 and formed a good relationship with Premier Zhou Enlai. Secondly, we have a solid foundation with frequent high-level contacts. And third, even though Cambodia is a small country, it plays an important part in China-ASEAN relations, so strengthening bilateral ties is a key to dealing well with Ch
4、inas neighboring countries.Cambodia is an agricultural country with weak industrial capacity and one of the least developed countries in the world. As a result, it is the governments top priority to develop its economy and eliminate poverty.In this regard, China has provided aid and invested more th
5、an 8.8 billion US dollars over the past 17 years, making China the biggest source of investment for Cambodia.Yang Baojun says in the future China should focus more on improving Cambodians livelihoods when helping its economy.There is still room to improve bilateral cooperation in politics, economy a
6、nd culture. Cambodia hopes China will help develop industries such as agriculture, transportation infrastructure, energy and electric power. In addition, we could help more by investing in labor-intensive industries, manufacturing, tourism and human resources.China and Cambodia established their str
7、ategic partnership in 2010, following Prime Minister Hun Sens official visit to China. Yang Baojun adds Hu Jintaos visit this time is significant to further the partnership.A lot of achievements have been made in all fields since 2010. President Hus visit will promote the relations to a higher level
8、. In particular, Cambodia holds the presidency of ASEAN this year, and a series of summits will be held in the capital Pnom-Penh. So the visit is important in strengthening the bilateral partnership as well as deepening China-ASEAN relations.A joint statement is expected to be released, and a number of business cooperation agreements, including the Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement, are to be signed during Hu Jintaos visit.For CRI, this is Su Yi.
