China welcomes investment, tech support for Greater Mekong Subregion

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China welcomes relevant countries to provide investment and technology support for nations in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said Tuesday.

Liu made the remarks at a regular press briefing while commenting on the outcome of the 4th Mekong-Japan Summit, which was held in Tokyo from April 20-22.

He said China is open to cooperations between the GMS and nations outside the Mekong Delta as a means to boost comprehensive economic and social development in the GMS.

During the summit, Japan pledged to provide about 600 billion yen (about 7.37 billion U.S. dollars) in official assistance to five nations in the Mekong River Basin region -- Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand -- in order to boost regional development.

Some media have interpreted Japan's pledge as a means to counterbalance China's influence in the GMS.

In response to these reports, Liu said as far as cooperation on facilitating GMS development is concerned, China and Japan may bring their respective advantages into full play and enhance communication and coordination to jointly promote development and prosperity of the subregion.

（Editor：张茜)