MARCH 17 marks the beginning of the 8th “Lancang-Mekong Week”. Since the launch of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC), it has grown rapidly with remarkable achievements, be­coming a “golden platform” for re­gional cooperation. Over the past six months as China’s Ambassa­dor to Myanmar, I have attended activities for seven LMC projects and visited multiple project sites. I have seen firsthand the tangible LMC outcomes in Myanmar, a land rich in potential. I have ex­perienced the speed, impact, and depth of this mechanism, and the “golden platform” has proven its worth in every sense.

The LMC has always prior­itized development and people’s livelihoods, staying rooted in local needs, delivering tangible ben­efits, and yielding real results. Funded by China, the LMC Special Fund has supported 118 projects in Myanmar, 72 of which have been completed, addressing critical is­sues such as access to clean wa­ter, electricity, poverty alleviation, and income generation. With the fund’s support, nearly 2,000 villag­ers in Kone Chan, Sin Taung, and Kyauktaw villages in Shan State now have access to clean drink­ing water. In Kan Maw Gyi and Yea Ngan Gyi villages of Bokpyin Township, Tanintharyi Region, 2,700 villagers now have access to 24-hour electricity through solar microgrids, reducing electricity costs by over 60 per cent. Addition­ally, tens of thousands of farmers have received free high-quality seedlings and training for coffee, rubber, fruit, silkworm, and aq­uaculture farming, helping them boost production, increase in­come, develop skills, and expand employment opportunities. These “small and beautiful” projects are not only fulfilling the aspirations of Myanmar’s people for a better life but also helping them build a brighter future.

The LMC is firmly rooted in the principle of good neighbourli­ness and friendship, emphasizing mutual consultation and sincer­ity. It fully respects the comfort levels of all parties, imposes no political conditions, and sup­ports each country in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions. The imple­menting agencies of LMC projects in Myanmar carry out coopera­tion based on the real needs of the Myanmar people, enjoying full autonomy in their operations. The Chinese Embassy, based on the needs of project implement­ing agencies, participants, and beneficiaries, works closely with the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation National Coordination Unit (My­anmar) and coordinates Chinese experts, technical personnel, and enterprises to provide support and drive greater project achieve­ments.

The LMC is committed to the spirit of mutual benefit, win-win outcomes, openness, and inclu­siveness. It does not form closed or exclusive “small circles” but instead embraces openness, ad­vances cooperation, and fosters synergies with mechanisms such as the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation and the Three Rivers Basin Mechanism. Promoting coordinated develop­ment, it contributes to regional community building and offers “Lancang-Mekong solutions” and “Lancang-Mekong wisdom” to en­hance regional governance.

Over the past nine years, un­der the strategic guidance of the leaders of the six countries, the LMC mechanism has become in­creasingly refined, with expanded areas of collaboration and growing internal momentum, effectively strengthening regional unity and development. Political mutual trust among the six countries has deepened, achieving comprehen­sive coverage in building a com­munity with a shared future on bilateral and multilateral levels, positioning them at the forefront of efforts to build a global com­munity with a shared future for mankind. The drive for common development has gained strong momentum, with trade between China and the five other Mekong countries surpassing US$200 bil­lion – doubling from a decade ago. Key infrastructure projects, in­cluding China-Laos Railway, Chi­na-Thailand Railway, and Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, are paving a “golden corridor” of connectivity, while high-speed rail integration, airport linkages, and digital advancements are accelerating the modernization of the LMC. The “Lancang-Me­kong friendship” has grown even stronger, with initiatives such as the “Sun Village Project” bringing light to thousands of families, the “Sweet Spring Action” providing clean drinking water to tens of thousands of villagers, and the “Lancang-Mekong Bright Pro­ject” restoring sight to thousands of cataract patients. China’s intro­duction of the “Lancang-Mekong Visa” has further strengthened ties among the six countries, fos­tering closer people-to-people ex­changes. The “Safe Lancang-Me­kong” initiative has made solid progress, and the 2024 joint oper­ation “Seagull” conducted by the Lancang-Mekong Integrated Law Enforcement and Security Coop­eration Centre (LMLECC) led to the arrest of over 70,000 criminal suspects, effectively safeguarding the lives and property of people in the region and ensuring regional security and stability.

The recently successful­ly concluded National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (Two Sessions) reaffirmed Chi­na’s unwavering commitment to opening up, emphasizing the steady expansion of institution­al openness and the orderly ad­vancement of autonomous and unilateral opening to drive reform and development. At the press conference of Two Sessions, For­eign Minister Wang Yi highlighted that China will continue expand­ing its openness towards neigh­bouring countries, including uni­lateral measures, to share more development dividends with its neighbours. This will inject fresh momentum and opportunities for LMC. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Myanmar, marking a new historical starting point for bilateral ties. As we deepen LMC, I am confident that we will also usher in new progress in Chi­na-Myanmar relations.

As a Myanmar proverb goes, “Be ambitious in thinking but down-to-earth in action.” China stands ready to work hand in hand with all sectors of Myan­mar, supporting each other in the historical journey towards modernization. Together, we will write a new chapter in the shared future of the China-Myanmar and Lancang-Mekong communities, forging an even brighter future for China-Myanmar relations and LMC.

(The views and opinions ex­pressed in this article are solely those of the author.)