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View all search resultsWorking together to elevate China-ASEAN ties to higher level
Despite COVID-19 and the sluggish global economy, China-ASEAN foreign trade in the first eight months of 2020 increased by 7 percent to 2.93 trillion yuan (US$430 billion).
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T
he 2020 series of Foreign Ministers’ Meetings on East Asia Cooperation will start tomorrow. This is the first time in history for the meetings to be held via video link, due to the still raging COVID-19 pandemic. Faced with a pandemic rarely seen in a century and the complex changes in the regional landscape, people in our region might be keen to know more than ever how China-ASEAN relations are going and what signals will be sent on antipandemic cooperation in the upcoming meetings.
China and ASEAN are among the main drivers of East Asia cooperation, which has been fully evidenced by our joint fight against the pandemic in recent months. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang conducted frequent “cloud diplomacy” with leaders of ASEAN countries to provide confidence, support and political guidance when they are most needed.
To work concertedly against the pandemic and stabilize economic and social order, China and ASEAN have carried out regular exchanges at multiple levels in health, economy, trade, transportation, information and disaster management, among others. All these efforts point to the building of a comprehensive antipandemic cooperation front.
China keeps in mind the needs of ASEAN countries for vaccine R&D and application and support cooperation in these areas between Chinese enterprises and relevant ASEAN countries. In the meantime, it is of paramount importance to take care of social and economic recovery both during the pandemic and in the post-pandemic era. Toward this end, China and ASEAN countries including Singapore, the Lao PDR, Myanmar and Indonesia have established “fast lanes” and “green lanes” for personnel and goods movement respectively.
China has resumed direct international flights with Vietnam and some other ASEAN countries. China has also been actively exploring with ASEAN countries the establishment of fast and green lane networks between China and ASEAN and in East Asia at large. Together we are also working on a regional financial safety net that stabilizes regional supply and industrial chains as well as the financial sector.
These antipandemic endeavors lead us to the larger picture of China-ASEAN cooperation that is comprehensive, multi-tiered and covers a wide range of areas.
Regarding the South China Sea issue, a few external forces are determined to interfere for the sake of their domestic political and geopolitical agenda. They attempt to stir up troubles in our region by driving a wedge between China and ASEAN.
