Chair’s Statement of the Forum on Lancang-Mekong Local Governments Cooperation

On Dec 17， the Forum on Lancang-Mekong Local Governments Cooperation was successfully held in Beihai， Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region， online and offline simultaneously. It was co-hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the government of Guangxi， with help from the Guangxi People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Beihai municipal government. Participants in the forum unanimously agreed to issue the Chair’s Statement of the Forum on Lancang-Mekong Local Governments Cooperation as follows：

The Forum on Lancang-Mekong Local Governments Cooperation was successfully held in Beihai city， Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Dec 17， 2021， online and offline. It was co-hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and attended by representatives of local governments in Cambodia， Laos， Myanmar， Thailand and Vietnam， as well as ambassadors or representatives of Mekong countries in China. The theme of the forum was“Enhancing Sub-National Exchanges， Deepening Lancang-Mekong Cooperation”.

We recall the consensus reached in the Vientiane Declaration of the Third Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Leaders’Meeting and the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation （LMC） five-year action plan （2018-22） on mobilizing the local governments of LMC member countries to join the cooperation and encourage them to participate in practical projects， and we agree to facilitate the implementation of the Initiative on Deepening Cooperation Among Local Governments of Lancang-Mekong Countries adopted at the Sixth LMC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting， stand ready to enhance solidarity and cooperation among the six countries in the fight against COVID-19， promote economic recovery， synergize development plans and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation to build a Lancang-Mekong community with a shared future.

We share the view that with their geographic proximity， close affinity and cultural similarities， Lancang-Mekong countries enjoy profound traditional friendship and have similar historical experiences and common development missions. We are natural cooperative partners and close friendly neighbors.

We speak highly of the LMC， as it has achieved fruitful outcomes in various fields since its launch five years ago. It has become one of the most dynamic and promising sub-regional cooperation mechanisms， which has injected vigor and vitality into regional stability and development and brought tangible benefits to people of all six countries.

We f i r m l y b e l i e v e t h a t maintaining regional peace and stability and promoting common development are in the fundamental interests of the countries and people in the region； we highly appreciate the LMC’s adherence to the spirit of maintaining good-neighborliness and affinity， taking development as a priority， pursuing mutual benefit and win-win achievement and putting people’s well-being first. Especially in the context of fighting the spread of COVID-19， Lancang-Mekong countries have vigorously carried out anti-pandemic cooperation， worked together to promote economic recovery and deepened people-to-people and cultural exchanges while maintaining high-level development of the LMC.

We agree that local governments are important participants and beneficiaries of the LMC. The local governments of the six countries should intensify cooperation， share experiences， promote the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative with the development strategies of Mekong countries， deepen cooperation in the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and accelerate the building of the Lancang-Mekong Economic Development Belt， so as to make the LMC more relevant， practical and beneficial to the people.

We agree that COVID-19 pandemic is a common enemy of humanity and the most pressing challenge at present. Only through solidarity and cooperation， respecting science， joint efforts to make vaccines accessible and affordable and safeguarding universal security can the international community defeat the pandemic at an early date. We are ready to continue to support each other in overcoming the difficulties by carrying forward the traditional friendship and upholding the spirit of solidarity through thick and thin， thus jointly protecting people’s lives and health.

We take note of the list of areas and projects for intended cooperation with the local governments of Mekong countries proposed by relevant Chinese provinces and municipalities and provided by China at the Sixth LMC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Taking this as a priority and following a resultsoriented approach， we are willing to leverage our respective strengths， deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in economy and trade， science and technology， green and low-carbon development and digital economy， and contribute to post-pandemic economic recovery and development.

We agree that people-to-people and cultural exchanges are the foundation of state-to-state relations and important carriers for cooperation between local governments. We encourage local governments of the six countries to deepen exchanges and cooperation in culture， education， tourism， women， youth and peopleto-people organizations， so as to continuously expand and consolidate the foundation of interests and public support for our friendship.

We agree that the establishment and development of friendship provinces or cities relations is an important channel to promote sustainable exchanges and cooperation between local governments. We are ready to uphold the principle of mutual respect， equality， mutual benefit and win-win cooperation， strengthen friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between the friendship provinces and cities and encourage the establishment of more friendship provinces or cities among the local governments of the six countries to build a tight network of friendship and cooperation in the Lancang-Mekong region.

We thank the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Beihai city for their positive contributions to the success of the forum. We agree to hold the second forum at an appropriate time next year to facilitate the institutionalized development of the forum， attract more local governments of the six countries to participate and promote common development.