On November 22, on the "Xiaoxue" solar term in China, President Xi Jinping and Brunei Sultan Hassanal co-chaired a special "cloud" meeting-the 30th Anniversary Summit of the China-ASEAN Dialogue Relationship.

  This is my country's most important neighboring diplomatic action this year, and it is also the first collective meeting between President Xi and leaders of ASEAN countries.

  China and ASEAN countries together have more than 2 billion people. What good news will this meeting bring to them?

"Current Affairs News Eye" analyzes for you.

The commemorative summit of "Thirty Years"

  ASEAN, the abbreviation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, its English abbreviation is ASEAN.

  ASEAN includes 10 countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, with a total area of ​​about 4.49 million square kilometers, and a population of 660 million as of 2019.

Beginning in the 1960s, these countries established ASEAN and embarked on a path of unity and self-reliance.

△Beijing Great Hall of the People, the venue before the start of the commemoration summit.

(Photo by CCTV reporter Shi Cheng)

  China and ASEAN have very close relations.

The "three most" is the most illustrative of the problem: Today, China and ASEAN are each other's largest trading partners, the most dynamic partners, and the most meaningful strategic partners.

  China and ASEAN have come so close, there is a critical time point: 30 years ago, in 1991, China and ASEAN started the dialogue process.

  Among the 11 dialogue partners of ASEAN, China has created a number of firsts.

At this commemorative summit, President Xi Jinping mentioned one of them: China was the first to join the "Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia" among ASEAN dialogue partners.

△The national flags of China and the ten ASEAN countries and the ASEAN Union flag (first from right) displayed at the venue.

(Photo by CCTV reporter Shi Cheng)

  In order to remember the historic dialogue, China and ASEAN have held many commemorative summits: in 2006, 2011, and 2016, the 15th, 20th, and 25th anniversary summits of the establishment of the dialogue relationship between China and ASEAN were held respectively.

  In October 2013, when President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the Indonesian National Assembly, he recalled that when Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Susilo came to China to attend the 15th Anniversary Summit in October 2006, he wrote a song on the Lijiang River entitled "Quiet." lyrics of:

  "Happy days continue to circulate in life. I and my partners will spend that good time together."

  This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN.

In November last year, in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 17th China-ASEAN Expo, President Xi made it clear that “China is willing to work with ASEAN to design and host commemorative events and build a higher-level strategic partnership.”

  On November 22 this year, the commemorative summit was held in video format.

Brunei is the rotating presidency of ASEAN this year.

Brunei Sultan Hassanal and President Xi co-chaired the summit.

Except for Myanmar, the heads of state or government of the other nine countries all attended the summit.

  When the leaders of ASEAN countries spoke at the commemorative summit, they also used the "three bests." In the 30 years since the establishment of the dialogue relationship between ASEAN and China, the two sides have developed into the most comprehensive, substantial, and most mutually beneficial strategic partners.

△In February 2017, a joint venture between China and Brunei took over the operation of Port Mora.

Today, Mora Port has become the most efficient port in the Eastern ASEAN Growth Area in terms of ship berthing, loading and unloading operations.

(Data map)

An official announcement of a new milestone

  "Partners" are an important link in international exchanges.

  In 2003, China and ASEAN established a strategic partnership oriented towards peace and prosperity.

  After the test of time, "forging a higher level of strategic partnership" is a matter of course.

  At the commemorative summit on November 22, President Xi Jinping and leaders of ASEAN countries jointly announced that China-ASEAN relations will be upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

This is the most important result of this summit.

  In the joint statement issued on the day of the summit, this relationship has a further definition: "meaningful, substantive, and mutually beneficial China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership."

  In the process of promoting the quality and upgrading of China-ASEAN relations, another "comprehensive"-"Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" has played an important role.

  Ten years ago, in November 2011, ASEAN put forward the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)" initiative, aiming to build a regional free trade arrangement centered on ASEAN.

In November of the following year, at the Seventh East Asia Summit, leaders of ASEAN countries and China, Japan, and South Korea agreed to start RCEP negotiations.

  On November 15 last year, after eight years of negotiations, China formally signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the 10 ASEAN countries and the 15 countries of South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

  On January 1 next year, RCEP will officially take effect.

Its total population, economic volume, and total trade account for about 30% of the global total, making it the largest free trade zone in the world.

  At the 30th anniversary summit of the China-ASEAN dialogue relationship, President Xi Jinping pointed out that we must give full play to the role of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and start the construction of version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area as soon as possible.

Bring people's livelihood and well-being through these initiatives

  "Blessings are shared, and difficulties are shared." "When we meet happy events, we should celebrate together, and when we encounter difficulties, we will help each other." This is the meaning of neighbors and friends between China and ASEAN.

  In November last year, President Xi Jinping put forward four proposals for "building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future": enhancing strategic mutual trust and in-depth docking of development plans; enhancing economic and trade cooperation and accelerating the overall recovery of the regional economy; enhancing technological innovation and deepening the digital economy Cooperation; enhance anti-epidemic cooperation and strengthen public health capacity building.

  In September of this year, President Xi said in a congratulatory letter that these four initiatives “have received positive responses from ASEAN countries, and cooperation in related fields is continuing to advance”.

  On November 22 this year, at this commemorative summit, President Xi put forward five suggestions for future China-ASEAN relations: jointly build a peaceful home, a peaceful home, a prosperous home, a beautiful home, and a friendly home.

  Many pragmatic measures and actions will bring tangible benefits to the people of both sides.

△The Can Tho Waste-to-energy Plant in Vietnam is invested and constructed by a Chinese company. It is the first modern domestic waste incineration power generation project put into operation in Vietnam.

(Data map)

  For example, China is willing to launch the "China-ASEAN Health Shield" cooperation initiative, which includes providing additional 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine free assistance to ASEAN countries to help regional countries increase vaccination rates.

  China is willing to provide ASEAN with another US$1.5 billion in development assistance in the next three years to fight the epidemic and restore the economy of ASEAN countries.

  China is willing to import more high-quality products from ASEAN countries, including striving to import 150 billion U.S. dollars of agricultural products from ASEAN in the next five years.

  △In May 2021, the first ceremony of Cambodian mango exports to China was held in Phnom Penh.

Mango has become Cambodia's second fresh fruit that can be directly exported to China after bananas.

(Photo/Visual China)

  We hope for a good friend, and a neighbor for a good neighbor.

President Xi Jinping also stated:

  China supports ASEAN’s efforts to build a nuclear-weapon-free zone and is willing to sign the protocol to the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty as soon as possible.

  We must jointly maintain the stability of the South China Sea and build the South China Sea into a sea of ​​peace, friendship, and cooperation.

  China is willing to launch the China-ASEAN Agricultural Green Development Action Plan to improve the resilience and sustainability of agricultural development in various countries.

  It is necessary to actively consider the orderly resumption of personnel exchanges after the epidemic, and is willing to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN in vocational education and mutual recognition of academic qualifications...

  At the commemorative summit, President Xi said: "China was, is, and will always be a good neighbor, good friend, and good partner of ASEAN."

  On the 30th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, this is a revelation and a declaration.

  Producer丨Shen Yong

  Chief Author丨Gong Xuehui Yu Zhenyi

  Vision丨Chen Kuo Zhang Jing

  Editor丨Liu Chong