Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Xiong Bo (L front)and Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn (R front) shake hands after signing the cooperation agreement on projects of LMC Special Fund in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Dec. 21, 2017. China provided 7.3 million U.S. dollars from the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Special Fund to Cambodia on Thursday for carrying out a variety of projects in the kingdom. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- China provided 7.3 million U.S. dollars from the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Special Fund to Cambodia on Thursday for carrying out a variety of projects in the kingdom.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Xiong Bo and Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn signed the cooperation agreement on projects of LMC Special Fund here.

China initiated the LMC Special Fund during the first LMC Leaders' meeting in Sanya of China's southern Hainan province in March 2016 with the aim of supporting the small and medium-sized cooperation projects put forward by the six Lancang-Mekong countries.

The six Lancang-Mekong countries include China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, Ambassador Xiong said Cambodia had the largest number of applications and approval of the first batch of LMC Special Fund projects, which truly demonstrated the country's positive attitude and enthusiasm towards the LMC.

"We are confident that the smooth implementation of these projects will surely be conducive to Cambodia's efforts in accelerating development, improving people's livelihood, and building a Lancang-Mekong community of shared future," he said.

Sokhonn expressed his appreciation to China for approving and financing 16 Cambodian projects for the first batch projects of LMC Special Fund with a total amount of 7.3 million U.S. dollars.

He said the projects covered a variety of areas including agriculture, tourism, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), public health, education and research, water resources, rural development, air connectivity, and cultural and religious exchanges.

"Today's ceremony reaffirms our strong confidence in this growing sub-regional mechanism, which is clearly project- and cooperation-based," Sokhonn said. "We anticipate that these cooperation projects will contribute to the sustainable development, promotion of connectivity and people-to-people exchange within the Lancang-Mekong region."

Meanwhile, the minister said Cambodia will be hosting the second LMC Leaders' meeting on Jan. 10, 2018. At the end of the meeting, a Phnom Penh Declaration, which charts a vision for the six countries to continue their cooperation, will be released.

LMC mechanism focuses on cooperation in prioritized fields like connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources, agriculture and poverty reduction.