Once a collection of sleepy fishing villages, vast Chinese investments have transformed Cambodia’s Sihanoukville into a half-finished gambling resort with signs everywhere in Mandarin.
China is the largest investor and trading partner in Cambodia, much of it directed towards the Gulf of Thailand port, a key strategic location in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) championed by leader Xi Jinping, who arrives in the country Thursday.
“Sihanoukville changes year-on-year,” said Xiaofan, a Chinese tourist visiting friends who started businesses.
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“This year I came back and it was entirely a Chinese city. There are so many Chinese people.”
According to the Preah Sihanouk provincial administration, the area boasts a GDP per capita of $4,000 — around double the Cambodian average — driven largely by a Chinese-run manufacturing hub.
The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone is a symbol of the Cambodia-China relationship, says provincial vice-governor Long Dimanche, who was sanguine about the prospect of his city becoming little more than a casino boomtown.
“For me, whatever,” he told AFP. “Look at Macau, look at Las Vegas.”
He says Sihanoukville welcomed investment from anyone, on a first come, first served basis.
“Cambodia is a small country. We don’t have any choice.”
Cranes from Chinese construction firms swing around on the coastline frantically building a luxury seafront shopping resort, Peninsula Bay.
A project representative described the developer as a “Chinese-Cambodian” company and said it was designed to “make Sihanoukville great again”.
Source: AFP
