Update the China-ASEAN relationship

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(People's Daily Online) 16:26, August 29, 2013

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Edited and translated by Zhang Qian, People's Daily Online

On August 29, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the China-ASEAN strategic partnership, a meeting of China-ASEAN foreign ministers will be held in Beijing. Against a backdrop of the world economic focus turning towards Asia, China-ASEAN relations have been developing steadily, and it is natural that a historic opportunity to upgrade the relationship has presented itself.

In 2003, China and ASEAN announced the establishment of "strategic partnership for peace and prosperity" and emphasized that the developing bilateral relationship had strategic significance for peace, development, and cooperation in the region. In response to the financial crisis and the severe challenges faced by the global economy in the post-crisis era, the China-ASEAN strategic partnership has withstood the test and grown in strength. Not only that, it has laid a solid foundation for further growth in the next ten years.

China and ASEAN are mutually interdependent in terms of geopolitical strategy. The two sides are neighbors. In the words of China's foreign minister Wang Yi, China has created a number of historical ‘firsts’ in its relations with ASEAN and its dialogue with its partners: the first to sign the Treaty of Amity and currency in Southeast Asia (the TAC), the first to establish a strategic partnership with ASEAN, the first to build the biggest free trade area between developing countries and ASEAN. China is the only country to hold a fair with ASEAN every year. The two sides have established 12 ministerial meeting mechanisms, conducting mutually beneficial cooperation in more than 20 fields. It is this array of ‘firsts’ that creates the importance of China’s role in expanding foreign relations with ASEAN - China adopts concrete measures to support the ASEAN community and sustain ASEAN’s leading position in East Asian cooperation.

China and ASEAN offer mutual development opportunities for each other. For four consecutive years, China has been ASEAN’s largest trade partner, and ASEAN has been China’s third largest trade partner. In 2012 the trade volume between the two sides jumped to 400 billion dollars, and mutual investment amounted to 100 billion dollars. As of the end of June this year, China's direct investment in ASEAN countries has nearly reached 30 billion dollars, and the demands of China's enormous market promote significant ASEAN economic growth. Personnel exchanges between the two sides numbered 15 million, and exchanges of foreign students last year totaled 170,000.

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