Original report from Phnom Penh
29 March 2010
In the past five years China and Cambodia have drawn ever closer, with Beijing investing billions of dollars in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. Cambodians see both benefits and potential risks in the relationship.
In the past five years, China has become Cambodia's most important source of foreign investment: Cambodia has approved $6 billion of Chinese investments since 2006, while China provided at least $2 billion more in grant aid and loans.
Those are big sums for Cambodia, which has a $10 billion economy.
The relationship between the two countries is nothing new. Chea Vannath, an independent analyst based in Phnom Penh, says China's influence goes back at least 1,000 years.
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