The Lancang-Mekong cooperation mechanism is the first new type of peripheral sub-regional cooperation mechanism initiated by China and serves as an important platform for the "BRI" construction. What is the reference significance of Lancang-Mekong cooperation to the construction of "BRI"? How can "BRI" build a community of shared future in the Lancang-Mekong region? How should we explore the innovation of regional cooperation mode under the new situation?

With these questions in mind, we interviewed Zhu Jiejin, Deputy Director of Fudan University's Center for United Nations and International Organizations, at the 4th International Forum on "BRI" and Global Governance recently held at Fudan University.

Zhu Jiejin is an associate professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University. His research interests include international organizations, global governance, international political economy, BRICS and G20, and international institutional change.

Zhu Jiejin believes that the basic conditions for the joint construction of "BRI" in Lancang-Mekong region are very good, and the Lancang-Mekong cooperation mechanism is a kind of institutional innovation, which has an important demonstration significance for the construction of "BRI". LMC has been promoted on the basis of solving practical problems. In the process of high-quality development of "BRI", attention should also be paid to cultivating such problem-oriented solutions.

The following content is dictated by Zhu Jiejin and organized by Chinese BRI Network.

The Lancang-Mekong region is a natural place for the joint construction of "BRI". "BRI" here is not only a government activity, but also a spontaneous participation of businessmen. The basic conditions for the construction of "BRI" here are very good.

Birth of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism

In fact, LMC is closely related to the upstream and downstream of rivers. This river starts in China's Qinghai Province, passes through Yunnan Province and then flows into Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. It is called the Lancang River in China and the Mekong River outside China. We are connected by water, so we are called a community of shared future, sharing the same river.
In our research, we found that upstream countries and downstream countries have different interest preferences. Upstream countries like China are concerned about hydropower development and unblocked river routes, while downstream countries are concerned about agricultural development. Vietnam in particular, the Mekong Delta is the breadbasket of Vietnam, and it's very important for them not to have their water trapped and polluted.

Speaking of the unimpeded waterway, 13 Chinese businessmen were killed by drug traffickers in the Mekong River tragedy on October 5, 2011, which shocked the world. It is a reminder that "BRI" cooperation is not just an economic issue; security is also essential. In this context, cross-border security cooperation in the Lancang-Mekong region has been put on the agenda.

For cross-border security cooperation, the downstream countries are actually ambivalent. On the one hand, they want to jointly fight against drug traffickers. On the other hand, cross-border security cooperation is a matter of national sovereignty and downstream countries have concerns about this. If other countries send troops to fight the drug traffickers, the downstream countries will not accept it.
Objectively speaking, each country is at a different stage of development and has different geographical locations, so there will be different interest preferences. In LMC, the interests and concerns of all parties are different. In fact, this is very normal, if the concerns of the same, there is no need to sit down to negotiate.

Talking about cooperation in international organizations involves the issue of mutual transfer of interests. When upstream countries want to talk about security cooperation, it is better to give downstream countries an advantage as well. And what do downstream countries care about? They care about water cooperation. If you want to talk about security with me and I want to talk about water resources with you, please discuss the two issues together.

At that time, China proposed to set up a new cooperation mechanism, which I think is a great wisdom. This new cooperation mechanism will not only talk about economic cooperation, but also security cooperation and water resources cooperation, thus expanding the scope of cooperation issues. This new mechanism is the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism.

This was the institutional innovation of the time. In the past, people only cared about economic cooperation. With the development of "BRI" in the Lancang-Mekong Basin, more and more other concerns are becoming more and more important. Under the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, a package deal was finally reached. In the end, what's good is what's good.

Problem-oriented solutions

The institutional innovation of LMC is of exemplary significance to the construction of "BRI". Take the Shanghai Free Trade Zone as an example. The Shanghai Free Trade Zone not only promotes the development of Shanghai, but also explores a set of experience that can be popularized to help China further open to the outside world. This is called demonstration significance.

This is what Lancang-Mekong cooperation means to BRI. LMC has encountered difficulties and obstacles, and we have solved these problems through institutional building and innovation. Can we ask ourselves if we can solve the same problems in Africa, in the Arab world, in Latin America? Although the specific situation is different in different regions, the contradictions between people and the conflicts of interests between countries are often the same.

If institutional innovation in the Lancang-Mekong region is done well and experience that can be replicated and extended is explored, it will be invaluable to the construction of "BRI".

Since its inception in 2013, the BRI initiative has been largely in the early harvest stage until before the COVID-19 outbreak. The early "BRI" construction has made great achievements, but after the epidemic, "BRI" is likely to enter a stage of more emphasis on high-quality development, which is also a stage of adjustment and transformation.

To this end, we need to think about how to make the countries along the Belt and Road more willing to cooperate. If the countries along the Road have no worries and take the initiative to build infrastructure projects, then it will be easy to do.

How can we do that? At this point, just as in the Lancang-Mekong region, we need to first think about what problems this region faces in pursuing international cooperation. The problem is not just from China's point of view, but also from the partner country's point of view.

We must go to the local area to understand what problems and grievances there are, and then solve these problems and grievances in a targeted way. Then we should make some innovations in system building, such as expanding the agenda, raising the political level of leaders, upgrading the ministerial meeting to the leaders' meeting and so on. The system designed in this way can solve the problem.
Many people think that international cooperation is just between two countries. That's not the case. Any specific cooperation is not just on paper, but needs specific people to do. In international cooperation, we should not only rationalize the relations between states, but also coordinate the relations between central and local governments and between departments.

In 2008, there was a famous case of "Dian vegetables for Thai oil". Thanks to its geographical location, Yunnan has always cooperated with countries along the Lancang-Mekong River. Yunnan is an important producer of vegetables, and Thailand is also famous for its refined oil products. With the original intention of mutual benefit and win-win results, Yunnan signed an agreement with Thailand to exchange Yunnan vegetables for Thai oil. At that time, Dian Cuisine had been successfully transported to Thailand, and according to the theory, Thai oil should also be sent to Yunnan. However, due to the involvement of multiple departments and poor coordination among different departments, Thai oil has not been able to enter China. In the end, the Thai oil had to be digested in Laos, putting the whole project on hold.

Since the establishment of the LMC system, we have avoided this problem. In the design of the LMC system, a strong emphasis has been placed on the principle of "leadership guidance and participation of all sectors". With this mechanism, policies will be aligned and implementation and coordination among all sectors will be smooth.

Therefore, the LMC has given us a great inspiration that we must be problem-oriented.

Exploration of regional cooperation paths

At present, the global phenomenon of trade protectionism and anti-globalization is very serious, some multilateral trade negotiations have stalled, and the COVID-19 disease since 2020 has further worsened the situation.

On November 15, 2020, the 15-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was formally signed. Premier Li Keqiang called the signing of the RCEP a victory for multilateralism and free trade. I thought it was a wonderful review.

Against such a backdrop of rampant trade protectionism and unilateralism, 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region are willing to further open up and expand imports. Such a demonstration is of great significance. I think this is the most important significance of the RCEP.

Many of the RCEP's rules are broadly consistent with those of the World Trade Organisation. At present, the WTO Doha Round negotiations into a state of crisis, when the negotiations can be reached is still unknown.

In the absence of any further reform of the WTO, the successful signing of the RCEP consistent with WTO rules is equivalent to saying: At present, we cannot do such a big thing as WTO reform for the time being, but we can experiment with opening up the market in a small region and apply some WTO rules to the Asia-Pacific region. In fact, RCEP represents a path for future economic and trade cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

The achievement of RCEP has promoted the construction of BRI in Lancang-Mekong countries. First of all, from the perspective of member states, the 15 member states of RCEP have a very high degree of coincidence with the "BRI" participating countries in the Lancang-Mekong region, and the 15 countries generally hold a relatively positive attitude towards "BRI".

Secondly, RCEP makes trade rules clearer and more specific. Specific and standardized trade rules will naturally facilitate unimpeded trade, which also conforms to the "five links" of trade emphasized by "BRI". This also enlightens us that in the next step of high-quality development process of "BRI", we must act in accordance with the rules. We cannot agree to every project or any project proposed by any country.

We are linked to countries along the Lancang-Mekong River by water. Water is indispensable to our life, and it is also the most cooperative spirit. We should give full play to the cooperative spirit of working along the path of adversity and avoiding obstacles. When we encounter difficulties in our cooperation, we should all show political wisdom. No problem is insurmountable.