CAMBODIA

PRC has been the main partner of Cambodia’s infrastructure development for some time. As of June 2021, China has built 3287 km of road and eight large bridges with a total length of about 7690m. Cumulative investment from PRC between 1994 to 2019 was $23.43 billion, accounting for 49.84 percent of total foreign direct investment in Cambodia and making PRC the top investor and donor in Cambodia. In 2017, PRC became Cambodia’s top trade partner and the bilateral trade volume reached $5 billion.120 In the same year, Cambodia received approximately $4.2 billion in official development assistance (ODA) from PRC in the form of grants and soft loans, which targeted physical infrastructure, agriculture, health, and education.121 Approximately 70 percent of roads and bridges in Cambodia have been funded by loans from PRC.122 Some local communities and NGOs have raised concerns about the investments from PRC, particularly regarding issues of land grabbing, resettlement and compensation, and environmental degradation.

The largest BRI project is the construction of a $1.9 billion, 190 km, four-lane expressway connecting Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville on the coast, in parallel to an existing highway . Construction began in March 2020 and is scheduled to be completed by March 2023. It will increase connectivity with the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), which is another key project under the BRI, and Sihanoukville Port, Cambodia’s only international deep-sea port, which handled more than 90 percent of Cambodia’s total container traffic in 2017.123 The value of imports and exports passing through the SSEZ reached $1.37 billion in the first half of 2022, up 38 percent year on year. The expressway and SSEZ projects have generated more than 20,000 jobs for Cambodians during construction. 124

120 China Daily, “Chinese Investors, Tourists Contribute to Cambodia’s Socio-economic Development: Business Leaders”, January 12, 2018 http://www. chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/12/WS5a584fa8a3102c394518edc0.html

121 May Kunmakara, “PM Backs China’s Key Role,” Khmer Times, April 12, 2017, https://www.khmertimeskh.com/15902/pm-backs-chinas- key-role/

122 The Cambodia Daily, “China Funded 70% of Cambodian Roads, Bridges: Minister,” July, 24 2017, https://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/china-funded70-of-cambodian-roads-bridges-minister-132826/

123 Xinhua. Chinese-invested economic zone in Cambodia registers trade increase of 38 pct in H1. 2022-07-18 20:06:12 https://english.news.cn/ asiapacific/20220718/fd7a6ce6e5464705b30603591cd30eac/c.html

124 Vannarith Chheang and Heng Pheakdey. NIDS ASEAN Workshop 2019 “China’s BRI and ASEAN”, Chapter 1: Cambodian Perspective on the Belt and Road Initiative http://www.nids.mod.go.jp/english/publication/joint_research/series17/pdf/chapter01.pdf

125 HKTDC Research. Cambodia: SEZs in Focus. 12 April 2017 https://research.hktdc.com/en/article/MzgzMDUwMDI0