ZHENGZHOU, Henan – China and Cambodia have officially kicked off the ‘Zhengzhou-Cambodia-ASEAN New Air Silk Road Development Forum’ in Henan province of China.

The event on Friday took place at the Conference Centre of Huanghe State Guesthouse of Henan Peony Hall and was hosted jointly by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC).

In his opening remarks, An Wei, a member of the Standing Committee of CPC Henan Provincail Committee and Secretary of Zhangzhou Municipal Party Committee, said the building of ‘Henan-Cambodia-ASEAN Air Silk Road’ will create a new framework for regional cooperation.

The forum was organised by the Zhengzhou Research Institute of the People’s Government of Zhengzhou and Cambodia Angkor Air.

Government officials and experts from China, Cambodia and other ASEAN nations, along with business representatives, attended the event.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative begun by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

For the past 10 years, both sides have kept the original motivation and worked together to promote the prosperity of Henan-Cambodia-ASEAN cooperation.

Under the theme of “Building a Community with a Shared Future in the New Era”, forum delegates shared experiences of cooperation from the Belt and Road Initiative. The forum discussed new plans to build two industrial parks in both countries and draw a new blueprint for developing an open economy.

“There is a solid foundation for Zhengzhou-Cambodia-ASEAN cooperation. Oriented to a new era, the development of the Air Silk Road represents a historical starting point,” An Wei said.

He highlighted the past 65 years of bilateral relationships between the two nations, saying that regardless of how the international situation has changed, the traditional friendship between China and Cambodia has been renewed constantly, and the deep-rooted tree of friendship has been thriving.

“We insist on openness and inclusiveness and propose to build the ‘Henan-Cambodia-ASEAN Air Silk Road’ to build friendly regional cooperation,” he said.

One example of this cooperation is state-owned Xing Gang Investment Group (XIG) becoming a shareholder of Cambodia Angkor Air and the direct flights between Zhengzhou and Phnom Penh are resuming.

In September 2020, the company opened the Phnom Penh-Zhengzhou route for the first time, but it was cancelled in November of the same year due to COVID-19.

XIG acquired 28% of Cambodia’s national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air last year, as part of XIG’s broad strategy to develop Henan’s capital Zhengzhou as an international air hub.

An said the implementation of China-Cambodia ‘Diamond Hexagon’ cooperation was accelerating the construction of economic and trade channels linking China, Cambodia and ASEAN countries.

“The ‘Four Silk Roads’ working respectively in the air, on land, online and at sea has brought more frequent economic and people-to-people exchanges between Henan and ASEAN countries, and makes the prospect for Zhengzhou-Cambodia-ASEAN cooperation promising,” he said.

Zhengzhou is playing an increasingly crucial role as a hub for transportation and logistics as well as the opening-up gateway to the outside world.

“Zhengzhou airport has opened 51 all-cargo lines covering 68 countries and regions of the world, connecting international logistics and trade channels, and forming a new integrated international transport hub,” he noted.

For his part, RAC President Sok Touch urged for close cooperation in the tourism sector between Cambodia and Zhengzhou, which has around 12 million residents.

David Yuhong Zhan, Vice Chairman and CEO of Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA), mentioned the plan to develop the Zhengzhou-Phnom Penh connection as a Bidirectional Super Tourist Destination.

The airline is actively seeking the support of the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia and is signing agreements with the Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, Henan Aviation Investment Tourism Company, Trip.com Group and others to develop Zhengzhou and Phnom Penh as international tourist destinations. Also, the airline is helping to build the ASEAN Centre in Zhengdong New District.

The history of Cambodia Angkor Air began in 1956. CAA has been carrying the dream of a modern Cambodia for more than 60 years. The company is the only national flag carrier supported by government investment.

CAA currently operates numerous domestic and international routes to Southeast Asian countries, India and more than 10 cities in China including Zhengzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Haikou and Macau.

Through code sharing with Vietnam Airlines, CAA flies to France, United Kingdom, Australia and other destinations.

In addition, Un Kheang, a Secretary of State at Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said China has used its resources and experiences to devise key initiatives that are inclusive and practically designed to meet the world community in a rapidly changing context.

He said the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was established to help fund infrastructure development – soft and hard – for global interconnectedness critical to economic growth and prosperity.

“Along with BRI, China promotes three interrelated initiatives: the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilisation Initiative,” he said.

The Global Development Initiative aims to promote economic development, alleviate poverty and improve health across the world. GDI also focuses on green development that aligns with the international climate agenda.

The Global Security Initiative is a “new approach to eliminating the root causes of international conflicts”.

This includes not only resolving armed conflicts but also engaging in addressing non-traditional security issues like climate change, peacekeeping, counterterrorism and transnational crimes, he added.

On Friday, the participants signed four Memorandum of Understanding on International Education Cooperation between Zhangzhou Municipal Education Bureau and the Royal Academy of Cambodia; Dialogue between Shaolin Temple and Angkor Wat; Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement between the Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism and the Siem Reap Tourism Bureau along with Cambodia Angkor Air.

Two more agreements were inked: the Framework Agreement on Strategic Cooperation between Zhengzhou-Cambodia High-End Think Tank on ‘Promoting Institutionalised Openness and Accelerating High-Quality Development’; and the MoU on Two-Way Investment in ‘Two Countries and Two Parks’ between Zhengzhou and Cambodia.

During the official tour in Zhengzhou, delegates visited the Shaolin Temple and viewed martial arts performances at Tagou Wushu School.

Over the weekend, delegates paid a visit to the Economic and Technological Development Zone to explore the Wanbang International Agricultural Products Logistics Centre, Yutong Bus Company, the Zhongdamen Bonded Commodity 020 Shopping Centre and Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone, among other interesting sites.