Building up the Lancang-Mekong community

This cooperation mechanism linking countries through which the river flows holds huge potential for deepening ties between China and Southeast Asia

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, launched in 2016, is one of the most successful full-fledged cooperation mechanisms backed by strong political will, deep financial support and shared vision among the six member countries, namely China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.

With an expressed commitment to deepening mutual trust, LMC has set out to promote cooperation, with the member countries’ leaders pledging to boost the economic and social development of subregional countries, enhance people’s well-being, narrow the development gap among regional countries and support the Association of Southeast Asian Nations community in facilitating the implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and advancing South-South cooperation.

Although there are plenty of Lancang-Mekong mechanisms, the LMC is known to be among the most robust subregional platforms, as it operates through all-round and broad-based cooperation with a government-guided and project-oriented model.

As this year marks the 10th anniversary of the first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting, it is worth reflecting upon the decade-long achievements and the way forward.

The LMC is one of the most institutionalized Lancang-Mekong mechanisms. It possesses long-term goals driven by a development strategy, focusing on three priority areas, namely political and security issues, economic and sustainable development, and social, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, as enshrined in the Joint Press Communique of the First Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in 2015.

Based on the Sanya Declaration adopted in 2016, the LMC states decided to make the three aforementioned areas the cooperation’s pillars with a specific scope of prioritizing connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources, agriculture and poverty reduction.

Since its inception, this subregional mechanism has established deep engagements between China and other Lancang-Mekong countries through frequent meetings, ranging from leaders’ summits to foreign ministers’ meetings, and a wide range of working group engagements. This has not only fostered trust and confidence among the leaders of these subregional countries, but also regularized interactions among line officials across LMC working groups and relevant stakeholders in the LMC region.

Moreover, the institutionalization of the LMC deepened with the launch of the LMC Special Fund in 2017. Since then, nearly 1,000 “small yet smart” projects have been carried out. Cambodia, specifically, has received over 100 projects, covering diverse sectors, including rural development, water resource management and agriculture. This special fund has not only improved livelihoods but also strengthened national connectivity, enhanced rural development and reinforced the effectiveness of the LMC model, deepening the bonds between China and Cambodia.

With the special fund allocated to projects that boost local livelihoods and the well-being of the people in the region, the LMC frameworks have been able to contribute to common development and prosperity for all LMC countries.

The LMC has also addressed the challenges. In 2016, the Lancang-Mekong countries witnessed a severe drought caused by a number of factors, such as climate change and the El Nino phenomenon. China released water from the Jinghong Hydropower Station in Yunnan province, providing other Lancang-Mekong countries with huge relief.

Water cooperation has been significantly enhanced since 2020, when China and other Lancang-Mekong countries agreed to establish an information-sharing platform, through which China has shared full-year hydrological data of the river.

Water cooperation is also linked with energy cooperation. So far, energy cooperation under the LMC framework has focused only on functional cooperation, such as capacity building and technical support. Although this has supported soft infrastructure, such as knowledge and information sharing on green energy promotion, it could be an area LMC countries can explore further amid the energy crisis caused by an unstable geopolitical environment, including the current conflict in the Middle East.

The LMC holds promising potential to deepen ties between China and countries in Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, challenges remain, from geopolitical uncertainties and flash points in the region and beyond, to the need to improve the functional structure of this mechanism. For that it is crucial that the LMC countries work together.

First, the setting up of the LMC should serve as a catalyst to bring about further development along the Lancang-Mekong River. As such, LMC should not be seen as a competitor but rather an inclusive complement to the already-existing Lancang-Mekong mechanisms. Since some of these existing mechanisms seem to have limited capacity in terms of financial assistance and limited areas of work and cooperation, LMC should be seen as a prime framework that could complement other mechanisms such as the Mekong River Commission, Greater Mekong Subregion Cooperation and the Mekong-United States Partnership, just to name a few.

Second, as a platform with better political will, leadership and funds availability, the LMC should explore whether there are projects proposed by other Lancang-Mekong mechanisms that are stuck because of limited fund capacity or other reasons. The LMC should consider joint collaboration with such projects. The LMC’s credibility can be built through joint collaborations with various existing mechanisms, as long as misunderstandings are kept to a minimum.

Third, some countries in the region have their own issues to deal with, such as domestic problems and interstate border conflicts. Therefore, LMC countries could consider compartmentalizing political issues while maintaining overall achievable and robust cooperation. This would serve the interests of the livelihoods and well-being of the people in the region.

Other than that, as the world is facing a multitude of challenges, such as the energy crisis and other emerging issues, LMC countries should build upon existing frameworks and work together to explore alternative solutions, including investment in green energy infrastructure, and prepare themselves for potential future non-traditional security issues, such as transnational crime.

To become a vital institution that can achieve what other existing mechanisms cannot, the LMC should try to be more inclusive and open, and inject vitality into regional integration.

Pou Sothirak is a distinguished senior advisor at the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies. Him Rotha is the deputy director of the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies.

The authors contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.