On November 11, the 2024 China-Cambodia Sister Cities Conference was held in Siem Reap Province, Northwest Cambodia. The event was co-hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia, and the Cambodia-China Friendship Association. The conference was themed "Cambodia and China Jointly Write a New Chapter of a Community with a Shared Future". Prominent attendees included Yang Wanming, President of the CPAFFC, Wang Wenbin, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia, Ek Sam Ol, Member of the Permanent Committee of the Cambodian People's Party and President of the Cambodia-China Friendship Association; Huot Hak, Cambodian Minister of Tourism, and Prak Sophoan, Governor of Siem Reap Province, all of whom delivered speeches at the event. The conference brought together more than 200 people, including Yuan Mindao, Vice President of the CPAFFC, representatives from 15 local governments across eight provinces in China, representatives from 12 Chinese-funded enterprise; and leaders from 25 Cambodian provinces, including Mithona Phuthong, Governor of Cambodian Koh Kong Province.
In his speech, Yang Wanming stated that China and Cambodia are "iron-clad friends" who have consistently supported each other through both good times and bad and are like brothers who share mutual trust and sincerity. He highlighted that last year, President Xi Jinping held two separate meetings with Cambodian King Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen, during which strategic communication was maintained, and important consensus was reached on advancing the building of a China-Cambodia community with a shared future. Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both nations, the China-Cambodia Diamond Cooperation Framework has been steadily expanded to include six priority areas (including political cooperation, production capacity, agriculture, energy, security, and people-to-people exchanges). Yang emphasized that the China-Cambodia Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership has made solid progress, ushering in a new era characterized by the building of a high-quality, high-level, and high-standard China-Cambodia Community with a Shared Future.
This year, being the Cambodia-China People-to-People Exchange Year, the convening of the 2024 China-Cambodia Sister Cities Conference is particularly timely and of far-reaching significance. Yang expressed confidence that through this platform, the sister cities of China and Cambodia would further expand friendly exchanges, promote people-to-people exchanges, and strengthen practical cooperation. Yang also reaffirmed the CPAFFC's commitment to building more bridges of friendly people-to-people exchanges to deepen the friendship between the two nations; building more bridges of practical cooperation to foster mutual benefit and common development; building more bridges for cultural exchanges to enhance mutual understanding; and building more bridges of youth friendship to carry forward the traditional ties while gathering strength to advance the people-to-people friendship and sub-national cooperation between China and Cambodia.
Ek Sam Ol welcomed President Yang Wanming and the Chinese delegation, noting that the successful holding of the conference added significant value to the Cambodia-China People-to-People Exchange Year and enriched the foundation of the Cambodia-China Community with a Shared Future. He praised President Xi Jinping's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, describing it as a blueprint for achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, building China into a modern socialist country, and addressing the common challenges faced by all countries amid unprecedented global changes. Ek Sam Ol expressed hope that the local governments of Cambodia and China would share development experiences, learn from each other, and strengthen practical cooperation to bring greater benefits to the peoples of both nations. He also reaffirmed the Cambodia-China Friendship Association’s readiness to enhance solidarity and collaboration with the CPAFFC, create more platforms for exchanges, and ensure that the Cambodia-China friendship continues to flourish and is passed down from generation to generation.
Huot Hak highlighted that Cambodia and China are geographically close to each other in terms of geography close and share deep ancestral ties, with a long tradition of friendly exchanges. He emphasized that the traditional friendship between the two nations has endured over time and remains vibrant and full of vitality. The Cambodian Government greatly values the role of the Cambodia-China Friendship Association and the CPAFFC in fostering Cambodia-China people-to-people friendship. He expressed his belief that the sister cities conference would inspire both nations to deepen their friendship, expand exchanges, and strengthen subnational cooperation.
In his speech at the tourism sub-forum, Ambassador Wang Wenbin remarked that tourism is a powerful engine for economic development and serves as a vital bridge to enhance people-to-people friendship. He expressed confidence that, through the joint efforts of both sides, China-Cambodia tourism cooperation and people-to-people exchanges would become more frequent and ever closer, providing strong support for building a high-quality, high-level, and high-standard China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era.
Prak Sophoan noted that under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two nations, Cambodia and China have established a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and forged an iron-clad friendship. He praised the flourishing subnational cooperation between Cambodia and China, which has resulted in the establishment of more than 30 pairs of sister cities. Fields such as tourism, agriculture, trade, investment, and people-to-people exchanges have yielded fruitful results. Prak Sophoan reiterated Siem Reap's willingness to strengthen collaboration with Chinese local governments, share successful experiences, and pursue common development.
During the conference, participants engaged in in-depth discussions on two main topics, namely, "Strengthening Tourism Cooperation for a Better Future" and "Expanding Friendship Cities Cooperation and Deepening Cultural Exchanges". Seventeen representatives from China's Henan, Shanxi, Hainan, Nanjing, Guilin, Xiangyang, Fuzhou, and Wuxi as well as Cambodia's Sihanoukville and Koh Kong provinces, delivered speeches. They shared their perspectives and proposed suggestions on how to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, effectively utilize local government and sister city cooperation channels, and expand bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, tourism, culture, and youth. Their contributions provided local insights into the building of a China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era. The conference culminated in a broad consensus and yielded several significant outcomes. At the conference, exchange cooperation agreements were signed between the Yungang Academy of China's Shanxi Province and the Authority for the Protection and Safeguarding of Angkor and the Region of Angkor (APSARA National Authority), and between the Wuxi Institute of Technician Jiangsu Province and the Cambodia-China Friendship Polytechnic Institute in Sihanoukville.
During the conference, President Yang Wanming held talks with Ek Sam Ol, Huot Hak, and Prak Sophoan, gave interviews to Chinese and Cambodian media, and participated in China-Cambodia cultural and artistic exchange activities.
The event featured captivating theatrical performances by Chinese soprano Wang Ying and the Gao Bin Art Troupe, who performed alongside Cambodian artists. A highlight of the cultural exchange was a flash mob performance by Chinese artists at Angkor Wat, further enriching the program and showcasing the vibrant cultural ties between the two nations.
