H.E. Mr. Maris Sangiampongsa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, is scheduled to attend the 10th Mekong - Lancang Cooperation (MLC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in Anning City, Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China, from 13 - 15 August 2025.

The Foreign Minister will co-chair the 10th 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, on 15 August 2025.

The main theme of the meeting is “Golden Decade: Staying Committed to Building a Better Community Through Solidarity,” which reflects the cordial cooperation among MLC member countries, as the mechanism is marking its 10th anniversary and is prepared to enter its second decade next year. The meeting will review the progress made under the MLC and discuss ways to further enhance future cooperation to be more effective and beneficial for the peoples of the Mekong sub-region and China. Thailand hopes to advocate for strengthened cooperation in addressing urgent shared challenges in the sub-region, including combating transboundary crimes and water resources management. Thailand will also express its readiness to host the 5th MLC Leaders' Meeting later this year.

Thailand currently co-chairs the MLC with China for the 2024 - 2025 term. The MLC is Thailand’s initiative proposed in 2012 and jointly supported by China. The framework, officially established in 2016, aims to promote connectivity and sustainable development in the Mekong - Lancang sub-region and to reduce development gap among countries. The cooperation is structured around three key pillars—political and security; economic and sustainable development; and social, cultural, and people-to-people exchange. There are 5 priority areas of focus, i.e. connectivity; production capacity; cross-border economic cooperation; water resources management; and agriculture and poverty reduction. The MLC marks the first time a cooperation framework on water resources management had brought all Mekong - Lancang countries together, covering both upstream and downstream nations.