Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC)

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What is Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC)?

• It is a multilateral format established in 2016 for cooperation between the riparian states of the Lancang River and Mekong River. 
• The Lancang is the part of the Mekong that flows through China. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand are five downstream countries of the Mekong River.
• The central purpose of the format is for China to manage water flow from its hydropower dams with the other riparian states.
• A MLC special fund was created in 2016 to aid in small and medium-sized projects by the Lancang-Mekong countries.
• The theme of 2022 meeting was “Solidarity for Peace and Prosperity”
• China has built some dams along the upper stretch of the Mekong, the part it calls the Lancang and it has been criticized for these dams that affect water levels and downstream fisheries.

About Mekong river-

• The Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. 
• It is the world’s twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. 
• It drains an area of 795,000 km², discharging 475 km³ of water annually. 
• Covering a distance of nearly 5,000 km from its source on the Tibetan Plateau in China to the Mekong Delta, the river flows through six countries: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam.

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