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New chapter opens for ASEAN-China partnership

The year 2018 has been marked by many milestones, including the start of ASEAN’s second 50 years as a successful regional organization

Huang Xilian (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, November 13, 2018

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New chapter opens for ASEAN-China partnership

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he year 2018 has been marked by many milestones, including the start of ASEAN’s second 50 years as a successful regional organization. It has marked the fourth decade of China’s commitment to reform and opening up and it is the 15th anniversary of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership, celebrated throughout the year, culminating in the forthcoming China-ASEAN Summit and the 15th Anniversary Commemorative Summit to be held in Singapore on Nov. 14.

Behind these numbers, there are more facts and figures on the ground for us to celebrate and work together in a new era of greater progress.

High-level visits have brought us closer and mapped out the path forward for the crucial partnership we share. This year alone, Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with leaders of Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia and maintained close exchanges with leaders of other ASEAN countries on bilateral and multilateral occasions.

Last May, Premier Li Keqiang made a historic visit to the ASEAN Secretariat, followed by the new secretary-general of ASEAN on his first official visit to China.

Four of his deputies were also in China on separate occasions, in addition to the successful visit to China by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) of ASEAN not long ago.

Concrete steps have been taken in enhancing strategic mutual trust. With shared aspirations for peace and stability, China and ASEAN countries are earnestly engaged in consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) to craft out rules and principles that we can all sign on to make this region a better place.

The navies of China and ASEAN countries recently made history by holding their first joint maritime exercise, the first of its kind between ASEAN and its dialogue partners. The will and resolve from both sides to uphold regional peace and stability and deepen mutual political trust are very strong and here to stay.

We are doing well on trade and investment too. For the past nine years China has been ASEAN’s top trading partner and ASEAN China’s third-largest trading partner for seven years in a row.

Against considerable uncertainties around the globe, two-way trade in the first nine months of this year grew by 18.6 percent to US$434 billion, among which ASEAN’s exports to China grew by 20 percent to over $200 billion.

Two-way investment is also growing apace. With a year-on-year increase of 16 percent from both sides so far this year, we have realized in advance the target of $200 billion in cumulative mutual investments by 2020. Working together and building synergy for East Asian economic integration, China and the ASEAN economies can all prosper, not at one another’s cost, but to each other’s benefit.

New highlights have emerged in cooperation across wide-ranging areas. Under the theme of the China-ASEAN Year of Innovation, the two sides have enhanced coordination of innovation strategies and started cooperation in areas like the digital economy, e-commerce, smart cities and clean energy. As agreed by leaders on both sides, people-to-people exchanges have grown into a third pillar of China-ASEAN relations, soon to reach 50 million in two-way visits before the end of this year.

In August, it was tentatively agreed at the China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting that 2019 would be the Year of China-ASEAN Media Exchange, to be formally announced at the leaders’ summit this Wednesday.

To top all of that, our relationship has gone beyond bilateral contexts and is taking on an increasingly important and richer regional and global dimension. The China-ASEAN partnership is the anchor of peace and stability in the region, not least in the South China Sea.

We are the champion and promoter of regional economic integration and leading drivers of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations toward an open and inclusive regional economy and a rules-based multilateral trading system.

It is particularly important for China and ASEAN to work together, make our voices heard and uphold our common interest against rising protectionist and unilateral headwinds from the outside.

A recent development I wish to share with great pleasure is that the text of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership Vision 2030 has been finalized and will be submitted to the upcoming leaders’ summit for adoption, again making China ASEAN’s first dialogue partner to make medium-to-long term joint plans.

It is a testament to our shared will and commitment to a stronger relationship in the decades to come and a blueprint that helps to synergize our development strategies, and enables us to work toward a strategic partnership of higher standards and greater deliverables, to the benefit of our peoples and the region as a whole.

It is a new beginning. For the vision to turn into a reality, we will have to work harder. And we welcome support and participation from all quarters to make the new chapter of our partnership an even better one.
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The writer is Chinese ambassador to ASEAN.

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