PHNOM PENH — China has been a key partner in helping renovate and preserve Cambodia's cultural heritage, Cambodian Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona has said. During an interview on Thursday, Sackona told Xinhua that China has been involved in the restoration work on ruined temples in the complex of Angkor Archeological Park in northwestern Siem Reap province since 1997 by renovating the Chau Say Tevoda temple, and then the Ta Keo temple. The work on Chau Say Tevoda was concluded in 2008 and the work on Ta Keo, which started in late 2010, is set to complete in 2018. The minister said in the near future, the renovation work on the Phimeanakas temple, located inside the walled enclosure of the Royal Palace of Angkor Thom in the Angkor complex, would be commenced with the financial aid of China too. In addition, Chinese experts have also studied the possibilities for the renovation of two other temples: the Beng Mealea temple in the Angkor complex and the Preah Vihear Temple in northwestern Preah Vihear province, she said. Both the Angkor Archeological Park and the Preah Vihear Temple are world heritage sites. "I highly value and thank the Chinese government for supporting Cambodia in preserving our national heritage," Sackona said. "I can evaluate that the level of Chinese experts' ability in renovating these temples is high and internationally recognized." She said China's assistance has not only importantly contributed to preserving ancient temples, but also helped train Cambodian archeologists on renovation and preservation tasks. "Chinese and Cambodian experts have worked together on these renovation projects, so it has given them an opportunity to exchange ideas and to learn from each other," the minister said. READ MORE: New deals to enhance commercial ties with Cambodia "We're confident in the abilities of the Chinese experts, and through these projects, we hope that Cambodian experts will be capable enough to renovate temples by themselves in the future." Besides, China, through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), has also helped train Cambodian culture officials on the work of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, she said. As 2018 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and China, Sackona spoke highly of the bilateral relations and the traditional friendship. The minister said the bilateral relations has been constantly developed and elevated to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation in 2010. Meanwhile, she said the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China has been providing a "golden opportunity" for China and Cambodia to further deepen all-round cooperation. "It gives a greater opportunity for the exchanges of trade, investment, tourism, and culture," she said, stressing that under the initiative, millions of Chinese tourists had visited the Angkor Archeological Park. "I believe that our ties will be further strengthened and expanded in the future," she added. According to Sackona, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the two countries have jointly organized a variety of activities, including arts performances, Chinese film festival, Chinese and Cambodian film tour, and photo exhibitions, among others. "These activities are very important to bring closer relations between the peoples of the two countries and to make the two peoples better understand each other's culture and traditions," she said.

PHNOM PENH, July 15 (Xinhua) -- China has played a key role in helping develop agriculture in Cambodia, Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon said.
The minister said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday that since 2009, the two countries have signed over 60 memorandums of understanding as well as a series of agreements and protocols, covering a wide range of cooperation in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and animal health and production.
Under the bilateral cooperation framework, China has assisted Cambodia's agricultural sector through human resources development, laboratory establishment, donation of material, equipment and machinery, and research projects, he said.
"China has provided a lot of supports to Cambodia for agricultural development - almost all the entities under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have received China's help," Sakhon told Xinhua.
"Most of China's assistance to Cambodia's agricultural sector is made in the form of grant aid, and the assistance is very important for us."
Agriculture, which is the backbone of the national economy, is vital to securing food security, he said, adding that more than 80 percent of Cambodia's population is farmers.
The minister said agriculture earned about 5.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, accounting for 25 percent of the Cambodia's gross domestic product (GDP).
Rice and cassava are the kingdom's main crops that generated more than 2 billion U.S. dollars in revenue last year, according to the Sakhon. The country produced 10.5 million tons of paddy rice and 14 million tons of cassava tubers last year.
"We have turned Cambodia from a country that was once in shortage of rice to a country that is now in large surplus of rice," he said.
According to the minister, China is the top buyer of Cambodian rice.
He said the world's second largest economy purchased about 200,000 tons of Cambodian milled rice in 2017, and is expected to buy up to 300,000 tons in 2018.
Commenting on the role of Chinese investors in the development of Cambodia's agriculture, Sakhon said their investments were "essential," saying that the Chinese investors had brought to Cambodia new capital, techniques and job creations, and had helped process Cambodia's agricultural products for exports.
Under the China's Belt and Road Initiative, more and more Chinese investors have expressed their interest in investing in Cambodia, he said, adding that the Southeast Asian nation is encouraging them to venture into building processing factories, especially cassava processing plants.
The minister said currently Cambodia has four cassava factories that process about 10 percent of the annual cassava output, as the remaining 90 percent of the output has been exported to Thailand and Vietnam.
For future cooperation, Sakhon said Cambodia and China are expected to sign a protocol on banana export in order to clear the way for export of Cambodian banana to China.
"We see China as a huge market for our agricultural produce," he said. "We also hope that in the future, we can export mangoes to China because we produce about a half-million tons of mangoes a year."

Cambodia on July 4 reopened the final stretch of a railway running from the capital Phnom Penh to the border with neighbouring Thailand in Poipet, the first time the line has been operational in 45 years.
The Asian Development Bank provided $13 million in 2009 to rebuild the missing link on the Western line which aims to slash travel time between the two countries and boost trade.
Cambodian transport minister Sun Chanthol called it “a historic day for our nation.”.
Cambodia and Thailand still have to hash out an agreement on trains crossing the border but Sun Chanthol said the two countries hoped to strike a deal soon.
“We have already connected the railways in Cambodia and Thailand,” he said.
“However, passengers cannot cross the border by train yet because there are three points in our railway agreement that we still haven’t managed to agree upon. Once the agreement is signed, Cambodians will be able to take the train from Poipet to Bangkok, and then in Thailand they can board a train all the way to Singapore,” he said.
A 48-kilometer portion of the railway near the border town of Poipet was destroyed in 1973 during the civil war. The rest of link to Phnom Penh had been suspended for more than a decade due to the poor condition of the track.
Now, Cambodia has more than 600 kilometers of train track extending from its northern border with Thailand down to the southern coast.
Royal Railway, the company in charge of managing railway traffic in Cambodia, will now purchase modern train engines and carriages to further improve and modernise its network, the minister said, adding that cross-border freight lines with Thailand are also under negotiation.