Members of the Cambodian royal family visit President Xi Jinping in Beijing. (Photo : Getty Images)
President Xi Jinping received Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath in Beijing.
Xi said that exchanges between the two countries should be done more often to create development strategies.
The Chinese president appreciated the long-standing friendship between the two countries. The special relationship started with the late Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk.
The late king stayed in China for 40 years until his death in 2012.
King Sihamoni made a visit to the Chinese president to pay a courtesy call but was mainly in the country for his annual physical check-up.
The king's physicians are Chinese and go to the country twice a year. While in Beijing, he also said that he appreciates the friendship offered by China and the economic development brought about by the Silk Road initiative.
Observers think that the China-Cambodia relations are strong because Cambodia's economy is so underdeveloped that it desperately needs China to support them.
In fact, China ushered $5 billion in loans and investments. This is 70 percent of total foreign direct investments in the country. China also owns most of garment and food manufacturing factories in Cambodia.
China is heavily into construction, mining, infrastructure, and hydropower. Investors from China have 369,000 hectares of land concessions to develop sugar, rubber, paper and other crops.
Cambodia likes China's aid because they are not compelled to accept with conditions from the funder, which is what the U.S. is doing.
An editorial from American publication The Economist wrote, "Cambodia also uses China as a hedge against the West. Chinese money comes with no strings attached, unlike most Western donations, which are often linked to the government's conduct."
Even the Cambodian government is not shy to admit that they need China's aid. Phay Siphan, a government spokesman, said last year: "Without Chinese aid, we go nowhere."
