BAGAN, Myanmar — Foreign ministers from China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam attended the seventh Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bagan on July 4, with participants agreeing to adopt six new cooperative directions and deepen collaboration in various fields.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the meeting that since the initiation of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC), the six participating countries have been working closely to push forward the high-quality development of this new type of sub-regional mechanism, successfully forging the "golden model" of regional cooperation and bringing real benefits to the people of the six countries.

He hopes that the LMC countries will continue to uphold the concept of "development, equality, practicality, efficiency, openness and inclusiveness," seek cooperation as always, promote development as one, jointly build the high-quality demonstration zones of the Belt and Road Initiative, the pioneer zones of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), and the pilot zones of the Global Security Initiative (GSI).

By doing so, a stronger Lancang-Mekong economic development belt will be constructed, and a closer Lancang-Mekong community with a shared future will be built, he added.

Wang said that since last year, the six LMC countries have joined hands to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, speed up inter-connectivity, build the development engine, actively implement regional cooperation, and expand cooperation on people's livelihood, contributing greatly to the promotion of regional stability and prosperity.

At the meeting, Wang proposed six cooperative directions for LMC countries, including strengthening strategic guidance, deepening economic integration, broadening agricultural cooperation, sticking to green development, stimulating digital cooperation, and enhancing cultural and people-to-people exchanges, so as to elevate the LMC to a higher level.

Wang announced that China will implement six measures that will benefit the countries along the Mekong River. The six measures include an action plan on Lancang-Mekong agricultural cooperation, a beneficial plan on Lancang-Mekong water resources, a cooperation plan on Lancang-Mekong digital economy, a Lancang-Mekong space cooperation plan, a Lancang-Mekong talent plan and a Lancang-Mekong public health cooperation plan.

All the sides agreed with the six new cooperation directions and welcomed China's six beneficial plans. They pledged to continue upholding the spirits of mutual respect, mutual trust, unity and coordination, and to deepen cooperation in key areas so as to forge the LMC into a propeller for achieving inclusive and sustainable development and build the six Lancang-Mekong countries into a community safeguarding sovereign equality and multilateralism.

The LMC has become a major subregional platform for guiding actions, improving livelihood and prioritizing development, which has demonstrated great vitality, Wang said.

He called on the six countries to share development results and jointly face up to challenges, offering "the LMC wisdom" for economic recovery, injecting "the LMC impetus" to regional prosperity and revitalization, and providing "the LMC experience" to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

A joint communique was issued after the LMC foreign ministers' meeting, which also adopted joint statements on customs trade security and clearance facilitation, agricultural cooperation and food security, disaster management, and exchanges and mutual learning among civilization.

The meeting also released a 2021 progress report on the LMC five-year action plan (2018-2022) and a list of 2022 projects of the LMC Special Fund.

The LMC consists of six countries — China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The Lancang River originates from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in southwestern China. It is called the Mekong River as it flows through the other five countries before emptying into the sea.