Premier to visit Cambodia, attend leaders' meetings

Premier Li Keqiang will attend a series of leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation and pay an official visit to Cambodia from Nov 8-13, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian announced at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Friday.

The visit, at the invitation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, will be Li's first trip abroad since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

"Concerted efforts from all countries are needed to deal with growing security risks from food, energy and finance at a time when the world is faced with a sluggish economy and continued unrest in the security situation," Zhao said.

The meetings, comprising the 25th China-ASEAN Summit, the 25th ASEAN Plus Three Summit and the 17th East Asia Summit, are set to focus on regional common development, promote East Asian economic integration, and safeguard regional peace and stability, he said.

The premier will also meet with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and hold talks with Hun Sen, according to the spokesman.

"We hope to take this visit as an opportunity to strengthen exchanges with the Cambodia side on governance and deepen cooperation in such areas as agriculture, manufacturing and the green economy," Zhao said.