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Videos about cooking the Cambodian specialty fish amok， boating on the Tonle Sap Lake， shopping at markets in Siam Reap， as well as tasting durian， pineapple， jackfruit and other local fruit. These are the kind of things Di Zi， her username， posts on Douyin， the Chinese TikTok. After marrying her Cambodian husband， Di moved to Siam Reap， the second largest city in the Southeast Asian country and the home of Angkor Wat.
Di has nearly 2 million followers on Douyin. Her videos mostly share the daily life of her family. To some extent， they have opened a window to facilitate a greater understanding of Cambodia among Chinese people. “I knew little about Cambodia before. But now I’m eager to go and see， and try some local food，” a follower commented. Other replies include “Are all Cambodian guys sweet like your husband？”“People are so kind there. I wish I could go.”
In a larger context， the relationship between Cambodia and China is at a high point， a role model for cooperation between countries， Cambodian Standing Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Bin Chhin said at the Second Cambodia-China Think Tank Forum on July 28 via video link.
In the 63 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties， tangible results have been achieved， with increasing economic ties and people-to-people exchanges. Recently， results have also been achieved in the joint response to COVID-19 and cooperation to push economic recovery. At the forum， officials and experts from both countries called to strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership.
Cambodia’s vaccination rate is the highest among Southeast Asian countries. “This is largely attributed to vaccines from China，” Huot Pum， Undersecretary of State of Economy and Finance of Cambodia， said at the meeting. According to him， as of July 27， China had provided over 17 million doses of vaccines to Cambodia， among them 2.2 million were donations.
Cambodia launched a vaccination drive for 10 million adults on February 10. Data from the health ministry showed that as of August 3， about 7.48 million adults had received at least one dose， with 5 million being fully vaccinated with the second dose.
On August 1， a follow-up campaign for 2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 was launched to raise the vaccination rate. “Vaccines for adolescents will mostly come from China， through either donation or procurement，” Huot Pum said.“After completing the vaccination drives， we can guarantee public safety， protect people’s health， and lay the foundation for the return to normalcy of social and economic life，” he added. In 2020， Cambodia reported its first negative GDP growth in 30 years， at minus 3.1 percent. Its economy is expected to improve about 4 percent in 2021. Whether the goal can be achieved depends on the containment of the virus.
Without China’s help， it would be very difficult for us to complete our vaccination objective， according to Nouth Sambath， head of the Institute of Biology， Medicine and Agriculture at the Royal Academy of Cambodia. “I was often asked why Cambodia did not buy vaccines from other countries. That’s because only our Chinese friends reached out to us in our quagmire， with vaccines and other medical supplies，” he added. Tangible help from China enabled us to fight the pandemic and protect the health and safety of the Cambodian people， he pointed out.
Cambodia also offered support to China， especially during the latter’s most difficult period in combating COVID-19 in early 2020， according to Li Kaisheng， Deputy Director at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen visited Beijing in February 2020， making him the first foreign leader to visit China after the start of the epidemic. “The reason I made the decision at this special time was to show the support of the Cambodian Government and people to China in its fight against the coronavirus，” Hun Sen said when meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed，” Xi told Hun Sen. “At this special moment， Cambodian people stand with us. This shows the unbreakable friendship and mutual trust between China and Cambodia.”
Trade is highly complementary between China and Cambodia. “Cambodia’s exports to China have maintained an average annual growth rate of 6-10 percent， which has had an important effect on Cambodia’s economic growth，” Sok Sopheak said.
Cambodia mainly exports clothing， footwear， animal skins， rice， rubber， cassava and cashews nuts to China. With the FTA Cambodia could expand its agricultural exports to China.
“At the request of Cambodia， the two countries initiated negotiations in January 2020， even though China was fighting the epidemic， and wrapped up the process in seven months， reflecting the bilateral willingness to reach a deal，” Yi Xiaozhun， Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization， said. The FTA has the highest level of liberalization among all such agreements inked by China in terms of trade in goods and access to service markets. It eliminates tariffs on over 97 percent of Cambodia’s exports to China， and on 90 percent of China’s shipments to Cambodia.
Cambodia saw rapid economic growth in recent years， with about 7-percent average annual GDP expansion since 2009. In the past 10 years， China has been the largest investor in the country with both countries committed to increasing bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2023.
“We need to speed up the approval procedures of the FTA， which presents a golden opportunity for Cambodia. We hope to implement it in early 2022， thus boosting exports of Cambodia’s agricultural commodities，” Sok Sopheak said. Cambodia will host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations （ASEAN） Summit and Related Meetings in 2022. “We must continue expanding the ASEAN-China FTA in order to help the region achieve greater economic growth，” Sopheak stressed. BR
Di has nearly 2 million followers on Douyin. Her videos mostly share the daily life of her family. To some extent， they have opened a window to facilitate a greater understanding of Cambodia among Chinese people. “I knew little about Cambodia before. But now I’m eager to go and see， and try some local food，” a follower commented. Other replies include “Are all Cambodian guys sweet like your husband？”“People are so kind there. I wish I could go.”
In a larger context， the relationship between Cambodia and China is at a high point， a role model for cooperation between countries， Cambodian Standing Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Bin Chhin said at the Second Cambodia-China Think Tank Forum on July 28 via video link.
In the 63 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties， tangible results have been achieved， with increasing economic ties and people-to-people exchanges. Recently， results have also been achieved in the joint response to COVID-19 and cooperation to push economic recovery. At the forum， officials and experts from both countries called to strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership.
Jointly fighting the pandemic
Cambodia’s vaccination rate is the highest among Southeast Asian countries. “This is largely attributed to vaccines from China，” Huot Pum， Undersecretary of State of Economy and Finance of Cambodia， said at the meeting. According to him， as of July 27， China had provided over 17 million doses of vaccines to Cambodia， among them 2.2 million were donations.
Cambodia launched a vaccination drive for 10 million adults on February 10. Data from the health ministry showed that as of August 3， about 7.48 million adults had received at least one dose， with 5 million being fully vaccinated with the second dose.
On August 1， a follow-up campaign for 2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 was launched to raise the vaccination rate. “Vaccines for adolescents will mostly come from China， through either donation or procurement，” Huot Pum said.“After completing the vaccination drives， we can guarantee public safety， protect people’s health， and lay the foundation for the return to normalcy of social and economic life，” he added. In 2020， Cambodia reported its first negative GDP growth in 30 years， at minus 3.1 percent. Its economy is expected to improve about 4 percent in 2021. Whether the goal can be achieved depends on the containment of the virus.
Without China’s help， it would be very difficult for us to complete our vaccination objective， according to Nouth Sambath， head of the Institute of Biology， Medicine and Agriculture at the Royal Academy of Cambodia. “I was often asked why Cambodia did not buy vaccines from other countries. That’s because only our Chinese friends reached out to us in our quagmire， with vaccines and other medical supplies，” he added. Tangible help from China enabled us to fight the pandemic and protect the health and safety of the Cambodian people， he pointed out.
Cambodia also offered support to China， especially during the latter’s most difficult period in combating COVID-19 in early 2020， according to Li Kaisheng， Deputy Director at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen visited Beijing in February 2020， making him the first foreign leader to visit China after the start of the epidemic. “The reason I made the decision at this special time was to show the support of the Cambodian Government and people to China in its fight against the coronavirus，” Hun Sen said when meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed，” Xi told Hun Sen. “At this special moment， Cambodian people stand with us. This shows the unbreakable friendship and mutual trust between China and Cambodia.”
Boosting economic ties
“Cambodia and China signed a free trade agreement （FTA） in October 2020. It covers multiple areas and is expected to create favorable conditions for trade and investment cooperation between the two countries after coming into effect upon ratification，” Sok Sopheak， Secretary of State of Commerce of Cambodia， told the forum.Trade is highly complementary between China and Cambodia. “Cambodia’s exports to China have maintained an average annual growth rate of 6-10 percent， which has had an important effect on Cambodia’s economic growth，” Sok Sopheak said.
Cambodia mainly exports clothing， footwear， animal skins， rice， rubber， cassava and cashews nuts to China. With the FTA Cambodia could expand its agricultural exports to China.
“At the request of Cambodia， the two countries initiated negotiations in January 2020， even though China was fighting the epidemic， and wrapped up the process in seven months， reflecting the bilateral willingness to reach a deal，” Yi Xiaozhun， Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization， said. The FTA has the highest level of liberalization among all such agreements inked by China in terms of trade in goods and access to service markets. It eliminates tariffs on over 97 percent of Cambodia’s exports to China， and on 90 percent of China’s shipments to Cambodia.
Cambodia saw rapid economic growth in recent years， with about 7-percent average annual GDP expansion since 2009. In the past 10 years， China has been the largest investor in the country with both countries committed to increasing bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2023.
“We need to speed up the approval procedures of the FTA， which presents a golden opportunity for Cambodia. We hope to implement it in early 2022， thus boosting exports of Cambodia’s agricultural commodities，” Sok Sopheak said. Cambodia will host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations （ASEAN） Summit and Related Meetings in 2022. “We must continue expanding the ASEAN-China FTA in order to help the region achieve greater economic growth，” Sopheak stressed. BR