'HK visit to Cambodia fosters bilateral cooperation'

A Chinese diplomat in Cambodia has hailed a visit by a Hong Kong delegation to the Southeast Asian country as a boost to bilateral cooperation. Wang Wenbin, the Chinese ambassador to Cambodia, on Tuesday met Chief Executive John Lee, who arrived in the capital Phnom Penh as part of a six-day visit to three nations that also includes Laos and Vietnam. During the meeting, Wang noted that he had earlier sent off another delegation led by former chief executive and vice-chairman of the nation's top political advisory body, CY Leung. “With Lee and Leung visiting at the same time, this shows that Hong Kong attaches great importance to developing friendly cooperation with Cambodia and promoting China-Cambodia relations," Wang said. "The chief executive's visit will certainly promote mutually beneficial cooperation between Cambodia and Hong Kong, and play a role in further boosting China-Cambodia relations." The CE, for his part, stressed the importance of fostering ties between governments, and allowing companies to do business. Ahead of his departure to Cambodia from Laos, Lee congratulated and praised fencer Edgar Cheung and swimmer Siobhan Haughey for their outstanding performances at the Paris Olympics. He said their performances showed the excellence of Hong Kong's athletes, while reiterating the government's commitment to sports development.