China's Foreign Ministry has announced that the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders' Meeting is also to be held in Sanya, Hainan province next week.
At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will attend the meeting on March 23.
Vice foreign minster Liu Zhenmin says the leaders will exchange views on promoting cooperation at the sub-regional level and advancing regional integration.
"The first leaders' meeting themed "Shared River, Shared Future" will reflect the progress of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation. Leaders will confirm the aims, key areas and priorities for cooperation and discuss the road map for future cooperation."
The vice foreign minister expects rules to be set up and principles to be established during the meeting.
"Premier Li Keqiang will introduce China's perspective on the future of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and highlight the necessity and urgency for cooperation of the six countries. The premier will announce a series of key proposals and measures for cooperation. To secure the success of the initiative, the meeting will release a series of documents covering a wide range of issues including the direction of the group, industrial capacity cooperation, and project designs. We will initiate a batch of beneficial projects."
The foreign ministry expects the initiative will be a beneficial supplement for China-ASEAN cooperation and assist the development of ASEAN countries as a whole.
For more on this topic we spoke earlier with Zhang Xuegang, a senior expert on southeast Asia affairs with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
