GSM.jpg (Photo : Xinhua)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang returned home to China on Saturday evening after achieving "fruitful results," as described by the Xinhuanet website, in policy discussions with neighboring Southeast Asian nations.
Li left Thailand, the host nation of the fifth Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation summit, after he delivered the opening speech at Saturday's daytime event.
During the summit, China said that the Mekong River funds will be disseminated to GMS countries through future opportunities, but also established conclusive financial initiatives.
The major announcements were a $1-billion infrastructure project to enhance inter-connectivity, a $490-million grant for poverty alleviation and a $10-billion program for the provision of special loans. China also committed to a $16.4-million dredging project along the Mekong River that will also be a preventative measure against natural disasters.
On the Friday before the GMS summit, Li spent a day meeting with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to revisit matters that were discussed in 2013. Following their meeting, a $10.6-billion railway line project and a doubling of the the financial arrangement between China and the Thai agricultural sector were the two most significant announcements.
A major component of the China-Thai railway project is an arrangement in which the former will provide its expertise for the construction of the massive infrastructural resource. This offer was then extended to the other GMS members at Saturday's summit for the ongoing development of an innovative economic partnership across the region-targeted industries that include electricity and telecommunications. Regional transportation routes were also highlighted as a priority area.
In addition to General Prayut, Li addressed an audience that included his GMS counterparts: Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Myanmar President U Thein Sein, Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The president of the Asian Development Bank, Takehiko Nakao, was also in attendance.
Li commended the GMS economic cooperation process for helping to further secure China's relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Although China is a leading member of ASEAN, the GMS members are the country's closest Asian neighbors.
