2026 Yellow River-Mekong River Exchange Week opens in Dezhou, Shandong

China News Service, Dezhou, November 13 (Reporter Sun Tingting) The 2026 Yellow River-Mekong River Exchange Week opened on the 13th in Dezhou City, Shandong Province. More than 200 people including ASEAN envoys to China, heads of business associations, representatives of China’s provinces and regions along the Yellow River, and representatives of key enterprises attended the event.

Liu Jungang, Vice Chairman of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said in his speech that Shandong has a complete range of industrial categories and is an important cooperative partner with the Mekong countries. "We will deepen cooperation with other countries in traditional fields such as agriculture and infrastructure, expand cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy, artificial intelligence, and smart manufacturing, and help regional economies achieve high-quality development."

Wang Dexin, counselor of the Asian Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Lancang-Mekong cooperation is steadily moving towards "version 2.0" and cannot do without active participation at the local level. The cooperation between Shandong and the Mekong countries has a deep foundation and close exchanges. The Yellow River-Mekong River Exchange Week has become a business card for friendly exchanges between Lancang-Mekong countries. We look forward to relying on a series of economic and trade negotiations and industrial docking activities to continue to expand local communication channels and inject strong momentum into the sustainable development of the Lancang-Mekong region.

Zhang Lizhong, Secretary-General of the China-ASEAN Center, said that this exchange week is an important platform for implementing the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation consensus. The Yellow River Basin and the Mekong River Basin have outstanding industrial complementary advantages and broad space for cooperation. It is hoped that all parties will continue to deepen practical cooperation in areas such as smart agriculture, renewable energy, and digital economy, and promote the results of cooperation to benefit more people.

Jimmy, the Philippine Ambassador to China, said that this exchange week has established a cooperation platform for all parties in the fields of deep processing of agricultural products, renewable energy, green industry, digital economy and other fields. "In the process of deepening economic cooperation, we must ensure that the results of cooperation are inclusive and sustainable, and industrial development should go hand in hand with ecological and environmental protection, green transformation, and improvement of people's livelihood."

Cambodian Ambassador to China Song Jiawei said that many Shandong companies have invested in Cambodia and their projects have been launched in local special economic zones and industrial parks. As the trade volume between Cambodia and China continues to grow, Cambodia is committed to further expanding cooperation between Cambodia and China in areas such as infrastructure, renewable energy, and digital technology.

According to Zaw Win Myint, Myanmar’s ambassador to China, Shandong companies investing in Myanmar can focus on deep processing of agricultural products, renewable energy, infrastructure and other fields. Zaw Win Myint said that currently, Bago, the capital of Myanmar's Bago Province, is promoting the establishment of a friendly and cooperative city relationship with Dezhou City, Shandong Province, and looks forward to deepening exchanges and cooperation between the two parties in the fields of culture, tourism, education, commerce and trade.

"In the new stage of development, Vietnam advocates shifting the focus of investment attraction from quantity to quality, giving priority to the introduction of technologically advanced, high value-added, environmentally friendly projects, and encouraging enterprises to invest in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology and clean energy." Nguyen Thi Thanh Lyc, member of the Gia Lai Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, said that Vietnam is vigorously promoting institutional reform, improving infrastructure construction, cultivating high-quality human resources, and implementing preferential tax and land policies as well as R&D support policies.

At the opening ceremony, five key cooperation projects were signed on site, covering cross-border commerce, foreign-related legal services, agricultural product trade, child welfare and other fields.

During the exchange week, activities such as the China (Shandong)-ASEAN Investment Promotion and Yellow-Mekong Dialogue Economic and Trade Exchange Conference, the China (Texas)-Cambodia Economic and Trade Cooperation Matchmaking Conference, the China (Shandong)-Vietnam Economic and Trade Cooperation and Legal Services Matchmaking Conference, and the Yellow River-Mekong River Basin Local Cooperation Lecture Hall will also be held.