Cooperation is the key, Li tells LMC leaders at meeting

China is willing to cooperate further with the five other countries working under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism in the fields of agriculture, training and education, as well as medical and health services, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday.

"In recent years China has benefited enormously from the peaceful and stable environment of our neighboring countries, and we are more than willing to shoulder the responsibility to lend support to them and develop hand in hand," Li said.

Li was speaking at a joint news conference with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen after the two leaders co-chaired the second LMC Leaders' Meeting in Phnom Penh. Also attending the meeting were the leaders of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

Li said China will continue to import agricultural products, including fruit and rice, from the five Mekong countries.

He announced at the news briefing that the first five-year action plan had been approved, from 2018 to 2022, since the cooperative arrangement kicked off in 2016. The meeting also resulted in a second set of cooperation projects, he said.

China will increase scholarships provided to students from the other five Mekong countries, including senior government officials, in areas including medical and health services, Li told reporters.