Photo shows a China-Vietnam-Laos freight train loaded with agricultural products at Nanning International Railway Port in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 13, 2021. (China Railway Nanning Group Co., Ltd./Handout via Xinhua)
KUNMING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Trade between China and countries along the Mekong River posted steady growth last year despite COVID-19 and the sluggish global economy.
Thanks to deepened mutual trust and cooperation, China's trade volume with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam totaled 416.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, up 5 percent year on year.
The figures were disclosed at the opening ceremony of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Week 2023, which was held on Thursday in Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.
In 2016, the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism was launched by China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. It derives its name from a river that is called the Lancang in China and the Mekong in the five other countries.
The mechanism has since become a landmark cooperation model in the region, and it has continuously injected vitality into regional development.