Cambodia’s controversial canal project gets boost on Xi visit

[ad_1] A pet venture of Cambodia’s ruling Hun clan to construct a canal linking the capital with the Gulf of Thailand acquired a lift as Chinese language President Xi Jinping’s rounded off a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia on Friday.

The Cambodian authorities reported the signing Thursday of a public-private partnership contract with China price $1.15 billion to fund Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal venture.

The formidable venture was launched final 12 months however work stopped quickly after groundbreaking amid questions over funding for the 151 kilometer (94 mile)-long canal that may hyperlink a department of the Mekong River to a port on the Gulf of Thailand.

<img data-chromatic="ignore" alt="Chinese President Xi Jinping reviews the honor guard with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, in Phnom Penh, April 18, 2025." class="c-image" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/4ZX6KMDSUFFMJH24GLBEA453QE.JPG?auth=db8a14a25c60e57bd2748a18e97f09fe8d097c445f7c822b87db15e9842f77e2&width=800&height=533" srcset="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/4ZX6KMDSUFFMJH24GLBEA453QE.JPG?auth=db8a14a25c60e57bd2748a18e97f09fe8d097c445f7c822b87db15e9842f77e2&width=274&height=182 274w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/4ZX6KMDSUFFMJH24GLBEA453QE.JPG?auth=db8a14a25c60e57bd2748a18e97f09fe8d097c445f7c822b87db15e9842f77e2&width=400&height=266 400w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/4ZX6KMDSUFFMJH24GLBEA453QE.JPG?auth=db8a14a25c60e57bd2748a18e97f09fe8d097c445f7c822b87db15e9842f77e2&width=768&height=511 768w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/4ZX6KMDSUFFMJH24GLBEA453QE.JPG?auth=db8a14a25c60e57bd2748a18e97f09fe8d097c445f7c822b87db15e9842f77e2&width=1024&height=682 1024w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/4ZX6KMDSUFFMJH24GLBEA453QE.JPG?auth=db8a14a25c60e57bd2748a18e97f09fe8d097c445f7c822b87db15e9842f77e2&width=1440&height=959 1440w" width="800" height="533"/> cambodia-china-funan-techo-canal Chinese language President Xi Jinping critiques the dignity guard with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, in Phnom Penh, April 18, 2025. (Agence Kampuchea Press through AP) Prime Minister Hun Manet posted on Fb that he met with Wang Tong Zhou, president of the China Communications Building Firm to debate the development of the canal. Senate President Hun Sen additionally posted that in his assembly with the Chinese language president, Xi voiced assist for the venture.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Solar Chanthol stated on Fb that the 2 sides signed 5 agreements, together with the public-private partnership contract, a shareholder settlement, an funding settlement, an engineering, procurement and development contract, and an operation and upkeep contract.

Cambodia’s state-run Agence Kampuchea Presse stated Cambodia traders maintain a 51% stake and Chinese language traders 49%. The collaborating firms embody Cambodia’s Abroad Cambodia Funding Company, Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, Sihanoukville Autonomous Port and China Highway and Bridge Company. It stated the venture would assist 50,000 direct and oblique jobs, and deliberate completion is by 2028.

<img data-chromatic="ignore" alt="Cambodian civil servants hold photographs of their Prime Minister Hun Manet and Senate President Hun Sen, during a groundbreaking ceremony of China-funded Funan Techo canal that will connect the country’s capital Phnom Penh with Kep province on the country's south coast, Prek Takeo village, Kendal province, Cambodia, Aug. 5, 2024." class="c-image" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/3ILP4W4ABRH5LNI7IKU5RWNARM.JPG?auth=9580261d516358504d719961e7cb7912f55ad2824e9251690baacc711bb485da&width=800&height=534" srcset="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/3ILP4W4ABRH5LNI7IKU5RWNARM.JPG?auth=9580261d516358504d719961e7cb7912f55ad2824e9251690baacc711bb485da&width=274&height=182 274w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/3ILP4W4ABRH5LNI7IKU5RWNARM.JPG?auth=9580261d516358504d719961e7cb7912f55ad2824e9251690baacc711bb485da&width=400&height=267 400w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/3ILP4W4ABRH5LNI7IKU5RWNARM.JPG?auth=9580261d516358504d719961e7cb7912f55ad2824e9251690baacc711bb485da&width=768&height=512 768w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/3ILP4W4ABRH5LNI7IKU5RWNARM.JPG?auth=9580261d516358504d719961e7cb7912f55ad2824e9251690baacc711bb485da&width=1024&height=683 1024w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/3ILP4W4ABRH5LNI7IKU5RWNARM.JPG?auth=9580261d516358504d719961e7cb7912f55ad2824e9251690baacc711bb485da&width=1440&height=961 1440w" width="800" height="534"/> cambodia-china-funan-techo-canal Cambodian civil servants maintain pictures of their Prime Minister Hun Manet and Senate President Hun Sen, throughout a groundbreaking ceremony of China-funded Funan Techo canal that may join the nation’s capital Phnom Penh with Kep province on the nation's south coast, Prek Takeo village, Kendal province, Cambodia, Aug. 5, 2024. (Heng Sinith/AP) Groundbreaking for the canal on Aug. 5, 2024 – longtime chief Hun Sen’s birthday – however the venture seems to have made little headway since then.

The canal, which might run from close to the capital Phnom Penh to the Gulf of Thailand coast, would cut back Cambodian dependence on Vietnamese ports for sea commerce. However the venture has raised considerations in Vietnam the place the rice-growing Mekong delta is susceptible to sea water incursions if the circulate of contemporary water down the Mekong and into the delta is decreased due to the canal.

Kim Sok, a spokesperson for the Cambodian Nationwide Resistance Council, a bunch fashioned by outstanding exiled opponents of Hun Sen, instructed RFA the federal government is attempting to get China to assist full the Funan Canal earlier than the 2028 normal elections in Cambodia.

The Chinese language president left Cambodia on Friday, returning to Beijing after a five-day regional swing with earlier stops in Vietnam and Malaysia.

On the journey, Xi sought to current China as a reliable buying and selling associate for Southeast Asia at a time when governments there are anxious concerning the impression of elevated U.S. tariffs on their exports.