China News Agency, Jakarta, February 22 (Reporter Lin Yongchuan) On February 22 local time, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with ASEAN Secretary-General Gao Jinhong in Jakarta.
Qin Gang said that ASEAN is one of the most successful regional cooperation organizations. Against the backdrop of profound changes in the international and regional situation, the status of ASEAN is even more important.
Currently, the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership is developing well.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping's proposal to build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future and the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative. It is also the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.
China is willing to work with ASEAN to continue to promote the construction of the "Five Homes", constantly enrich the connotation of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides, and will continue to support the work of the ASEAN Secretariat to jointly promote China-ASEAN cooperation to achieve new achievements and East Asia cooperation to achieve new development.
Qin Gang said that at present, the recovery of the world economy is sluggish, the crisis in Ukraine is protracted, and the shadow of geopolitical competition continues to gather. The Asia-Pacific is facing the path of peace or confrontation, cooperation or division.
China firmly supports the maintenance of ASEAN's centrality, supports ASEAN in adhering to strategic independence, openness and inclusiveness, does not choose sides, does not target third parties, and is willing to join hands with ASEAN to meet challenges and jointly resist "decoupling and breaking chains" and "building walls".
Gao Jinhong appreciated China's long-term emphasis on and valuable support for ASEAN integration, saying that China is the first major country to join the "Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia" and is also a vital strategic partner of ASEAN.
The strategic positioning of the relationship between the two parties has been improved, cooperation has been continuously deepened, and mutual trust has continued to increase.
We look forward to working with China to push the ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level and jointly safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity.
The two sides stated that they will speed up the negotiation process of the Free Trade Area 3.0, promote the high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, cultivate more economic growth points, and make the region continue to become a global development highland. They will jointly host the 20th anniversary of the China-ASEAN Expo .
The two sides will speed up the resumption of personnel exchanges in an orderly manner to promote people-to-people bonds between China and ASEAN.
The two sides will promote new progress in consultations on the "Code of Conduct in the South China Sea" and further provide institutional guarantees for maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.
On the same day, Qin Gang collectively met with members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of ASEAN.
The two sides believe that China-ASEAN cooperation is mutually beneficial and full of vitality, benefiting 2 billion people in 11 countries on both sides. Cooperation in various fields such as economy, disaster response, clean energy, medical and health care, and capacity building will promote connectivity in the region and enhance supply chain resilience.
Qin Gang emphasized that China will continue to take ASEAN as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, firmly support ASEAN unity and community building, and consolidate China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership around the three pillars of promoting economic growth, maintaining regional stability, and strengthening people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
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