First observation | What signal does President Xi’s speech at the China-ASEAN Expo release?
On the morning of November 27, the 17th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit opened in Nanning, Guangxi. Chairman Xi Jinping delivered a video speech.
The significance of this speech is extraordinary.
New situation
As early as when he visited Indonesia in October 2013, President Xi proposed to jointly build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road with ASEAN countries and jointly build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.
Over the past seven years, the close cooperation between the two parties has given new life to the ancient Maritime Silk Road.
In the words of President Xi, China-ASEAN relations have become the most successful and dynamic model of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and a vivid example of promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
△This is the container terminal in the Qinzhou Port area of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone (taken on November 23, 2019, drone photo).
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cao Yiming
When the world is at a turning point and the world encounters protectionist headwinds, ASEAN, as a good neighbor, is a cause for concern as to its position among China’s diplomatic partners.
"Under the new situation, China regards ASEAN as the priority direction of its neighboring diplomacy and high-quality joint construction of the'Belt and Road' key areas..." President Xi said.
Under the changing circumstances, I personally addressed the meeting, expressing a "priority direction" and a "key region", which shows that China attaches great importance to ASEAN as a strategic partner.
This emphasis is based on the common destiny of the two sides, which can be seen from the economic and trade field alone.
Since the beginning of this year, despite the severe impact of the epidemic and the sharp contraction of international trade, ASEAN has surpassed the European Union and has historically become China's largest trading partner, opening a new horizon for bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
It is conceivable that the large Chinese market with a population of 1.4 billion plus the ASEAN market with a population of 600 million will produce a "1+1 greater than 2" effect.
Building a more resilient regional industrial chain value chain will undoubtedly become a powerful "weapon" for both parties to resist external risks.
New gripper
To open a new situation, new hands are needed.
Strategic mutual trust, economic and trade cooperation, scientific and technological innovation, anti-epidemic cooperation... Focusing on building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, President Xi proposed four initiatives.
Among them, the formulation of "deepening digital economic cooperation" and "building a'digital silk road'" is refreshing.
"Create more new cooperation highlights in the fields of smart cities, 5G, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, big data, blockchain, telemedicine..." Grasping the new momentum of the digital economy, President Xi pointed out new ideas for future cooperation between the two parties path.
△The 5G farmer's market in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province-Luojiazhuang Farmer's Market's large screen displays real-time transactions, passenger flow and other related information (photographed on May 17, 2020).
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Han Chuanhao
Seize the opportunity to cultivate new opportunities in the crisis.
After this "epidemic", the development of the digital economy has become the consensus of most countries.
From BRICS to APEC and G20, in recent international conferences, digital economy has become a high-frequency word in President Xi's speech.
Under the new situation, the “Belt and Road” initiative needs to be equipped with the “wings” of the digital economy.
In this regard, there are natural advantages and huge potential between China and ASEAN.
ASEAN has predicted that by 2025, ASEAN’s digital economy will increase from 1.3% of GDP in 2015 to 8.5%.
The total scale and growth rate of China's digital economy are among the highest in the world, and it will be a precious partner for ASEAN to share experience.
New future
The convening of this meeting coincided with the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) soon.
This agreement, which President Xi is concerned about and mentioned on many diplomatic occasions, has spawned the world's largest free trade area and will open up a broader space for future cooperation between China and ASEAN.
Different from previous sessions, this year's China-ASEAN Expo adopted a combination of online and offline methods.
Such a scenario is familiar to people-in the context of the spread of the global epidemic, this has become China's third major international economic and trade event that combines online and offline after the China International Trade and Trade Fair and the China International Import Expo this year.
It is the innovation of the holding format, and it is China's determination to open up.
"China will unswervingly expand its opening to the outside world, enhance the domestic and international economic linkage effect, and drive the world's common recovery through its own recovery, and all countries in the world, including ASEAN, will benefit from it." President Xi once again made an open declaration to the world.
Many international organizations predict that China is expected to become the only major economy in the world to achieve positive growth this year.
Opening each other's arms and building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future will surely help ASEAN emerge from the haze of the epidemic as soon as possible and inject more strength into the recovery of the world economy.
Planning: Huo Xiaoguang
Producer: Che Yuming, Han Jie
Lead writers: Yu Jiaxin, Zou Duowei
Vision｜ Editor: Miao Xiayang, Gu Tiancheng