Japan's birth rate is among the lowest in the world, a trend which has meant having a shrinking workforce, fewer consumers and businesses fighting to recruit workers.

The visit, planned for weeks, comes as Beijing faces 145 percent US duties, while Vietnam is negotiating a reduction of threatened US tariffs of 46 percent that would otherwise apply in July after a global moratorium expires.

Anwar said he would make this appeal when he meets the junta's senior general Min Aung Hlaing in Bangkok on April 18.

Xi's first overseas trip of the year will see him visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia as Beijing seeks to tighten regional trade ties and offset the impact of huge tariffs unleashed by his US counterpart Donald Trump.

Indonesian rescuers returned to Jakarta on Saturday after completing their 12-day operation in earthquake-hit Myanmar, while medical workers will continue their work until next week.

Southeast Asian countries are pitching in to present an ASEAN pavilion in addition to individual booths at the 36th World Expo from April 13 to Oct. 13 in Osaka, Japan, aiming to promote trade and investment opportunities in the region as well as closer ties between member states.

The rare bilateral visits to Southeast Asian nations mark a high-profile personal diplomatic outreach for Xi. Earlier this week, the Chinese president pledged to deepen "all-round cooperation" with China's neighboring countries.

The US sale of three nuclear-powered submarines to Australia under AUKUS is facing new doubts as Trump's tariffs take hold, and amid concern in Washington that providing the subs to Canberra may reduce deterrence to China.

Xi will visit Vietnam from April 14-15, and Malaysia and Cambodia from April 15-18, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. 

Ambassador Xiao Qian urged Australia and other trading partners to "jointly respond to the changes of the world" in an opinion piece written for a Sydney newspaper. 

The state visit will go from April 15 to 17, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which count on the United States as their main export market, were among those slapped with the toughest levies by President Donald Trump.

With increased contact between the international community and Myanmar’s junta government following a deadly 7.7-magnitude earthquake in late March, ASEAN should consider intensifying its political efforts in Naypyidaw by unifying its Myanmar agenda and building better rapport with local actors, experts have said. 

President Prabowo Subianto said on Monday that Jakarta would “remain calm” and use diplomacy to address the tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump, as Indonesia wants an equal relationship with the US.

President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday made a brief visit to Putrajaya to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, discussing several ASEAN-related issues including the new United States trade tariffs.

"Enhancing combat readiness and elevating joint mission effectiveness" would be central to the Cope Thunder exercise, Philippine Air Force commander Arthur Cordura said Monday at a ceremony to launch the drills.

President Prabowo Subianto jetted off to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday as he intensified communications with world leaders amid international trade uncertainty stemming from the United States’ sweeping import tariffs.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday the junta was restricting aid supplies to quake-hit areas where communities did not back its rule.

The United States has traditionally been at the forefront of disaster relief, but President Donald Trump has dismantled the US humanitarian aid agency, with workers receiving dismissal notices just as the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck last week.

A new batch of humanitarian aid from Jakarta arrived in Naypyidaw on Thursday to help the ASEAN neighbor with post-disaster efforts, following the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck on March 28.

While the crisis rages in Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing sat down Thursday night for a gala dinner with fellow leaders from the BIMSTEC group at the $400-a-night Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok.

The unanimous ruling caps months of political turmoil that have overshadowed efforts to deal with the administration of United States President Donald Trump at a time of slowing growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Indonesia dispatched on Thursday another batch of aid and more rescuers and medical workers to disaster-stricken Myanmar as the team in Naypyidaw is working to help in the relief efforts.  

Rescuers on Wednesday pulled a man alive from the rubble five days after Myanmar's devastating earthquake, as calls grew for the junta to allow more aid in and halt attacks on rebels.

South Korea's interim leader Han Duck-soo called on the nation on Wednesday to accept any decision from the Constitutional Court on impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol in a calm manner.

China on Tuesday sent its army, navy, air and rocket forces to surround Taiwan for large-scale drills Beijing said were aimed at practicing for "precision strikes" and a blockade of the island.

The death toll from Friday's 7.7 magnitude quake reached 2,719 as of Tuesday morning and was expected to surpass 3,000. Some 4,521 people were injured and 441 missing.

Whole herds of cattle have drowned in vast inland floods sweeping across the Australian outback, officials said Tuesday, as the muddy tide drenched an area the size of France.

Residents were enjoying a public holiday for Eid celebrations in Muslim-majority Malaysia when they were forced to flee the suburban area.

The Defense Ministry dispatched on Monday 12 tonnes of humanitarian aid including food, tents, blankets and medicine for victims of the powerful earthquake that rocked Myanmar and Thailand last week.