Cambodian PM to sign 15 deals during China visit

Cambodian PM expects to sign 15 agreements during visit to China, will meet with former king

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, stands with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao while national anthems are played during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Monday, Dec. 13, 2010. Hun Sen is on an official visit to China that's expected to culminate in the signing of 15 agreements. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

Anita Chang, Associated Press, On Monday December 13, 2010

BEIJING (AP) -- Cambodia's prime minister kicked off a visit to China on Monday where he was expected to sign more than a dozen agreements in areas such as energy and infrastructure, emphasizing China's growing presence in the region's less-developed countries.

Hun Sen said before his departure that Beijing will provide soft loans to Cambodia for projects that include building a new road and two bridges, one across the Mekong River in the capital, Phnom Penh, and another across the Bassac River, on the outskirts of the capital.

Other deals concern agricultural exports and the development of a coal-powered electricity plant in the coastal province of Preah Sihanouk. The value of the deals was not announced.

Hun held talks Monday with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. He was also scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and top lawmaker Wu Bangguo during his five-day stay.

"China and Cambodia continue to strengthen friendly cooperation. This is in the interest of the people of the two nations and also in the interest of regional peace and stability," Wen told Hun Sen.

China's influence in Cambodia is considerable despite Beijing's strong backing of the former Khmer Rouge government that caused the deaths of some 1.7 million people in the late 1970s.

It has provided millions of dollars in aid to Cambodia over the past decade, agreed to write off debts and granted it tariff-free status for some 400 items. Last month, China provided $6 million to help restore a deteriorating temple at the landmark Angkor Wat temple complex.

Earlier this year, China supplied Cambodia with more than 250 military vehicles after the United States suspended a similar shipment. The U.S. decision came after Phnom Penh deported 20 Uighurs, ethnic minorities from far western China who said they were fleeing ethnic violence and wanted asylum in Cambodia.

China accused the Uighurs of involvement in the violence.

While in China, Hun Sen was also expected to visit former King Norodom Sihanouk, who is in Beijing for medical treatment, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Associated Press writer Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh contributed to this report.