Cambodia is an important leg in Xi’s regional tour, with half of businesses there exporting to the US Chinese-owned.Cambodia is hoping to shore up more financial support from China as President Xi Jinping arrives in Phnom Penh in an effort to strengthen regional trade ties to offset the effect of steep US tariffs.
As part of a three-pronged Southeast Asia tour, which included Vietnam and Malaysia, Xi on Thursday is meeting Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Manet and Senate President Hun Sen.
“We expect more cooperation including on infrastructure development,” Meas Soksensan, a spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance, told the Reuters news agency on the eve of Xi’s arrival.
He was answering a question about whether Cambodia expected Beijing to announce financial support for the 180km (110-mile) Funan Techo Canal, the country’s most ambitious infrastructure project.
Phnom Penh is a close partner of China, which has invested billions of dollars in various projects, including roads and airports, and is the country’s largest creditor.
“The Trump administration is very clearly trying to isolate Beijing, and Beijing’s response is here to extend its arms to its Asian neighbours,” said Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, speaking from the Chinese capital. Advertisement
Yu added that Xi received the warmest support in Cambodia on his tour because the two are “ironclad friends”, with deep military ties in addition to the infrastructure investments.
Meanwhile, Cambodia is a major exporter of clothing and footwear to the US, with half of these companies owned by Chinese business owners, Yu explained.
Phnom Penh was slapped with a US tariff rate of 49 percent, one of …