By: Pham Phan Long
On paper, the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) mechanism is a success. Since its launch in 2016, trade between China and Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam has risen sharply, reaching a record $500.9 billion in 2025 – 150 percent above the level a decade earlier. Railways, roads, investment and people-to-people exchanges als…