China and Cambodia have agreed to further strengthen their cooperation in combatting cross-border-crime, particularly online gambling and cyber scams, during a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.

The meeting was held during the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits in Laos, the details of which were later outlined during a press conference hosted by Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin, The Khmer Times reports.

According to Wang, the mutual work by Cambodia and China to tackle cross-border crime signals a mutual interest in tackling criminal networks operating in both countries. He also noted that more than 1,200 suspects in online gambling and cybercrimes were jointly repatriated in the first six months of 2024.

“The two countries collaborate to crack down on cross-border crime, including cyber fraud and online gambling, to promote the building of a common destiny between China and Cambodia,” Wang said.

“We commend the Cambodian side for taking steps to crack down on this crime. In the first half of this year, the Cambodian side cracked down on telecom fraud in Sihanoukville and sent more than 1,200 perpetrators back to China. We hope that in the future the Cambodian side will play a significant role in cracking down on this crime.”

China, Wang added, would continue to support and assist Cambodia in such crackdowns.

“The crackdown on transnational crime is not only an agreement between our two countries but also an agreement in our region, and now countries in the region are working together to crack down on transnational crime. And we believe that this cooperation will yield better results,” he said.

Cambodia famously stopped issuing online gaming licenses and renewing existing licenses in early 2020.