ASEAN, China Reaffirm Commitment to Strategic Partnership

8-Jun-2015

Source:  ASEAN Secretariat News

ASEAN, China Reaffirm Commitment to Strategic Partnership

BEIJING, 8 June 2015 - Senior Officials of ASEAN and the People's Republic of China met on 3-4 June in Beijing for the 21st ASEAN-China Senior Officials' Consultation. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership and agreed to further strengthen the close ties. They acknowledged the close economic links between ASEAN and China and discussed new areas of cooperation and collaboration that will contribute to ASEAN community-building and economic integration plans. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common interest and concern.

The Meeting agreed that even though both sides worked to finalise and implement existing plans and development programmes, simultaneously there was a need to look ahead and identify future targets and developments goals in line with the dynamic nature of the Partnership, which is now in its 24th year. China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner since 2009 while ASEAN remains China's third largest trading partner since 2011. The two-way trade volume reached USD 366.5 billion in 2014, a 4.6% growth year-on-year. Both sides agreed to work towards achieving USD 500 billion two-way trade volume by end-2015 and USD 1 trillion by 2020. The upgrading of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, when realized, would contribute to achieving the ambitious trade volumes.

Substantive progress has also been made in other areas of cooperation agreed to under the current Plan of Action (2011-2015). For instance, a plan to facilitate cooperation in health matters is being drafted while a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation in Science and Technology has been finalised. Projects are being formulated to enhance cooperation in disaster management.

As the current Plan expires at end-2015, both sides are working to finalise a new Plan of Action to be endorsed by the ASEAN plus China Post Ministerial Conference in August 2015. The new Plan, which covers the period 2016-2020, will be framed to meet new challenges, enhance the economic ties between both sides, assist in narrowing the development gap in ASEAN and contain practical measures to deepen and enhance the mutually beneficial partnership. China assured that within the framework of the Plan, it will contribute significantly to programmes, projects and activities that will facilitate and contribute to ASEAN Community-building beyond 2015.

ASEAN and China agreed to build on the momentum set by the Leaders during their Summit on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership in October 2013, to further strengthen the strategic partnership. ASEAN noted China's support for ASEAN Centrality and its recognition of the role played by ASEAN-led mechanisms in contributing to regional stability and facilitating strategic dialogue and cooperation among the participating countries. ASEAN also recognized and expressed appreciation to China for its continued assistance and generous contributions to ASEAN to achieve its development and connectivity goals. As 2016 marks the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, both sides discussed ways to celebrate this milestone. China has proposed that 2016 be declared the ASEAN-China Education Exchange Year as it intends to promote closer cooperation in education including scholarships for ASEAN students to further their studies in universities in China.

The Meeting had extensive and candid discussion on matters related to regional peace and stability. The exchange of views on the South China Sea was frank and substantive. Both sides shared their perspectives on recent developments in the area as well as their implications for the Asia-Pacific region. The Meeting emphasised the importance of ensuring peace and stability in the South China Sea, including the maintenance of maritime security, freedom of navigation and freedom of over-flight which is a vital regional interest. In this regard, the Meeting underlined the need to continue building confidence and mutual trust, and stressed the importance of fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in its entirety, as well as working expeditiously toward an early Code of Conduct (COC). The on-going work of the ASEAN-China Working Group on the COC and Senior Officials mechanisms on the DOC will therefore need to be expedited. In addition, ASEAN and China agreed to enhance cooperation to address new and emerging challenges such as non-traditional security threats, food and energy security, climate change, disaster management, counter-terrorism, transnational crimes, cyber-crimes, and epidemic.

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