The 9th Joint Working Group Meeting on Poverty Reduction for  Lancang-Mekong Cooperation was held in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province on 15 September, 2026. Organized by the International Poverty Reduction Center in China and co-organized by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Yunnan Province and the People's Government of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, the event brought together more than 40 representatives engaged in poverty reduction and development from the six Lancang-Mekong countries: China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Implementing the consensus reached at successive Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders' and Foreign Ministers' Meetings, the conference exchanged views on key directions and priority areas for Lancang-Mekong poverty-reduction cooperation over the next decade. Participants shared the latest progress and innovative practices in national poverty reduction and rural development. They adopted the Consensus on Jointly Building the "Lancang-Mekong Poverty Reduction Cooperation Version 2.0"(Consensus on Lancang-Mekong Poverty Reduction Cooperation Version 2.0), which defines the priorities for future exchanges and cooperation among Lancang-Mekong countries in poverty reduction and rural development. During the meeting, representatives from agricultural and rural authorities of Yunnan, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Sichuan Province presented local experiences and cases in advancing comprehensive rural revitalization and participating in Lancang-Mekong poverty-reduction cooperation. Representatives from enterprises and social-sector organizations including JD.com, Yihai Kerry Arawana Group and the Global Cross-Border E-commerce Association shared practices of poverty alleviation through e-commerce, social-sector-led poverty relief and cross-border e-commerce for farmers. In-depth interactive discussions were held on the above-mentioned topics.

Agriculture and poverty reduction constitute priority areas under Lancang-Mekong Cooperation. Since the establishment of the Lancang-Mekong Poverty Reduction Joint Working Group in 2016, exchanges and cooperation in poverty reduction across the sub-region have steadily deepened. A host of pragmatic, small-scale yet high-impact, people-centered projects have advanced rural infrastructure building, agricultural industrial development, capacity-building and livelihood support for rural households, and improvement of rural public services, delivering tangible benefits for people's well-being across the region.

Going forward, guided by the objectives set out in the Consensus on Lancang-Mekong Poverty Reduction Cooperation Version 2.0, all sides will further expand cooperation into frontier areas such as green agriculture, the digital economy and cross-border industrial-chain coordination. They will foster the delivery of innovative poverty-reduction and rural-development projects, explore replicable and scalable practices, and jointly build a model for poverty-reduction cooperation among the Global South. These efforts will contribute to forging a closer Lancang-Mekong Community with a Shared Future.

Jiao Dian, Deputy Director General of the International Poverty Reduction Center in China; Jiang Xingming, Deputy Director General of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Yunnan Province; and Yu Wei, Vice Governor of the People's Government of Dali Prefecture, attended and addressed the meeting.