Prospects for cooperation between China and ASEAN (expert interpretation)
Recently, the 18th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit came to an end in Nanning, Guangxi.
Wang Lei, secretary general of the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat, introduced at the closing press conference that this grand event organized and signed a total of 179 international and domestic cooperation projects, with a total investment of more than 300 billion yuan, an increase of 13.7% over the previous session. The signed projects The total investment amount is the highest ever.
A total of 148 online and offline economic and trade events were held in this grand event, and 26 series of high-level forums under the framework of the China-ASEAN Expo, covering industrial chain, production capacity, customs, health and other fields.
According to an article published by the Russian Satellite News Agency, even in the context of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, China has steadily become a major trading partner of ASEAN.
In the post-epidemic period, the establishment of economic and trade relations is particularly important.
Singapore’s "Lianhe Zaobao" website reported that at the opening ceremony of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Wang Ruijie said in a video speech that although subject to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, trade between ASEAN and China has been higher than last year. Growth, both parties will benefit from the establishment of closer economic ties.
The new international land-sea trade channel under the New China (Chongqing) Strategic Connectivity Demonstration Project has the potential to become another trade route that will benefit the region.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN.
Over the past 30 years, the two sides have jointly sought regional peace and stability, promoted regional development and prosperity, and set an example of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
As China continues to open up to the outside world, all-round cooperation between China and ASEAN is also deepening, and the report card is more eye-catching: First, the foundation of political mutual trust is more solid, and security cooperation is progressing in an orderly manner; second, economic and trade cooperation is advancing by leaps and bounds, and the trade volume has increased by dozens A large number of major projects have been implemented steadily. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has become an important force in safeguarding free trade and multilateralism. Good results have been achieved in the fields of goods trade, investment trade, service trade, and mechanism building. ; Third, the field of people-to-people exchanges continues to expand, and the coverage is getting wider. Even during the epidemic, the online communication between the two sides has remained at a high level.
In the past 30 years, China-ASEAN cooperation has achieved remarkable results, mainly due to the following aspects: First, the principle of equality between large and small countries in politics and mutual respect have created a good political atmosphere for dialogue between the two sides.
When encountering differences, the two sides did not expand their conflicts, but set aside their differences and focused on expanding the big pie of cooperation; the second is to improve the construction of innovative cooperation mechanisms, so that the cooperation between the two sides has maintained a good inertia; the third is the continuous deepening of cultural exchanges. The degree of people-to-people connectivity is getting deeper and deeper, laying a solid foundation of public opinion for deepening cooperation.
The China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit are important institutionalized platforms for bilateral cooperation.
On the one hand, China and ASEAN show the actual dynamics of economic and trade exchanges between China and ASEAN countries through exhibitions, summits, and forums; Economic development provides more intellectual support.
The theme of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit is "Share the new opportunities of land and sea channels and jointly build a China-ASEAN community with a shared future."
The new land-sea channel was originally a large southbound channel jointly proposed by China and Singapore, and later became an important starting point for cooperation between China and ASEAN.
Sharing new land and sea channels can lay a solid foundation for the construction of an interconnected system, greatly reduce the cost of trade in goods, and improve the efficiency of bilateral economic and trade exchanges.
Interconnection is an important starting point for building a China-ASEAN community with a shared future, and building a China-ASEAN community with a shared future is a goal pursued by China and ASEAN countries.
The new crown pneumonia epidemic has severely hit the global economy and has also brought severe challenges to the cooperation between China and ASEAN.
However, whether it is cooperation in fighting the epidemic or economic and trade exchanges, the performance of China and ASEAN has impressed the world.
On the one hand, after the outbreak, China and ASEAN strengthened cooperation in medical supplies, anti-epidemic experience, and vaccine supply to jointly fight the epidemic; on the other hand, through the opening of green channels and fast channels, the speed of customs clearance of goods has been increased, and the economic and trade of the two sides have been promoted. Cooperation rose against the trend.
Under the epidemic situation, China and ASEAN have demonstrated with practical actions: The more the crisis, the stronger the momentum for cooperation between the two sides.
Facing the future, the prospects of China-ASEAN cooperation are worth looking forward to: First, through the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road", promote the implementation of a series of mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation projects, which can really benefit the people of relevant countries; second, deepen cooperation in the fight against the epidemic , Strengthen public health capacity building, strengthen industrial docking in the new business forms spawned by the epidemic, and create more opportunities; third, with the smooth progress of RCEP, China and ASEAN will usher in a broader space for cooperation, such as marine economy, clean energy, Digital economy and other fields; fourth, continue to make good use of platforms such as the China-ASEAN Expo, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and promote continuous progress in the construction of a China-ASEAN community with a shared future.
(Interview and collation by our reporter Jia Pingfan) "People's Daily Overseas Edition" (10th edition on September 20, 2021)