H.E. Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, will co-chair the 11th Mekong–Lancang Cooperation (MLC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting with H.E. Mr. Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. The Meeting is scheduled to take place on 4 November 2026 in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

The Meeting will review progress made under the MLC framework as it marks its tenth anniversary this year. Ministers will exchange views on ways to further strengthen future cooperation to ensure that the MLC remains effective and delivers tangible benefits to the people of the Mekong sub-region and China.

On this occasion, Thailand will advocate enhanced cooperation to address pressing shared challenges facing the sub-region, including transnational crime, water resources management, and transboundary haze pollution. Thailand will also reaffirm its readiness, in its capacity as co-chair of the MLC, to co-host the 5th MLC Leaders’ Meeting, scheduled to take place later this year in Guilin, the People's Republic of China.

Thailand currently serves as co-chair of the MLC alongside China. for the 2024–2026 term. The MLC originated from a proposal first put forward by Thailand while China formally established the MLC later on in 2016. The framework aims to promote connectivity, sustainable development, and the narrowing of development gaps within the Mekong sub-region through cooperation under three pillars: (1) political and security affairs; (2) economic and sustainable development; and (3) social, cultural, and people-to-people exchanges. The framework also focuses on five priority areas, namely connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources management, and agriculture and poverty reduction. Notably, the MLC is the only Mekong cooperation framework with membership from both upstream and downstream countries, serving as an important platform for fostering closer partnership and shared prosperity in the subregion.