Once a collection of sleepy fishing villages, vast Chinese investments have transformed Cambodia's Sihanoukville into a half-finished gambling resort with signs everywhere in Mandarin.

China is the largest investor and trading partner in Cambodia, much of it directed towards the Gulf of Thailand port, a key strategic location in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) championed by leader Xi Jinping, who arrives in the country Thursday.

While welcomed by local government officials, China's vast investments are viewed warily by critics who warn that they heap unserviceable debts on their hosts and leave the city highly dependent on Beijing.

"Sihanoukville changes year-on-year," said Xiaofan, a Chinese tourist visiting friends who started businesses.

"This year I came back and it was entirely a Chinese city. There are so many Chinese people."

Gambling is generally illegal in mainland China, and Sihanoukville is one of the many centres in the surrounding area that have sprouted to draw Chinese visitors and sate their hunger.

And Phnom Penh is among Beijing's most reliable supporters in Asia -- China's state news agency Xinhua described Xi's visit as a display of "iron-clad" friendship.

This month a Chinese-renovated naval base was inaugurated........

© International Business Times