Third gathering originally planned for Vientiane, Laos, but COVID forced delay

Premier Li Keqiang will participate in a videoconference on Monday－the third Lancang-Mekong Cooperation leaders' meeting－with this event to assess cooperation progress and discuss strategy going forward, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday.

The meeting will be co-chaired by Li and Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith of Laos, Zhao said.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Myanmar President U Win Myint, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will also take part.

"China highly values the meeting. Premier Li, together with the leaders, will discuss cooperation－especially in key areas including water resources, interconnectivity and public health－in order to enhance the wellbeing of people in LMC countries and promote regional peace, stability and prosperity," Zhao told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

The Lancang River originates on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. It is called the Mekong River as it flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying into the sea. In 2014, China initiated the LMC, consisting of the six countries.

Zhao said the third LMC leaders' meeting was originally planned to be held in Vientiane, capital of Laos, early this year, but was postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"All parties agreed on the necessity of holding the meeting as soon as possible in a flexible way in order to provide strategic guidance in a timely manner for Lancang-Mekong cooperation amid the current circumstances," Zhao added.

As a new subregional cooperation mechanism, the LMC has seen rapid development since its launch with the mechanism construction continuously improving and fields of cooperation expanding, Zhao said, adding that it has brought tangible benefits to people from the six countries.

He said that after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the six countries have supported each other and effectively contained its spread, making positive contributions to the fight against the virus in Asia and around the world.

Meanwhile, the six countries have overcome the impact of the pandemic and maintained pragmatic cooperation, providing assistance for work and production resumption in other countries, Zhao added.

Reports of PNG vaccine trials hit as 'unfounded'

In another development, Xue Bing, Chinese ambassador to Papua New Guinea, denounced media reports of China carrying out COVID-19 vaccination trials in the Pacific island country as "unfounded".

The Australian reported on Friday that PNG has denied entry to Chinese nationals who participated in a COVID-19 vaccine trial.

In a reply to Beijing-based Global Times, Xue was quoted by the paper as saying that China didn't carry out COVID-19 vaccine testing in PNG, and expressed strong dissatisfaction over media reports that are not based on facts.

With the approval of the PNG government, 48 Chinese workers have recently arrived in the country on a chartered flight and resumed work and production at Ramu NiCo, which helps to promote the Pacific island country's economic recovery, Xue said.

Xue added that all the workers had been tested for coronavirus with negative results in China before departure and underwent a 14-day quarantine in a designated hotel after arrival as required by local epidemic prevention and control measures.