Resilient China-ASEAN relations energizing the East Asian regionalism

From August 4 to 5, 2022 local time, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting, ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Foreign Ministers' Meeting, East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. For the first time since the outbreak of Covid-19, the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meetings and Related Meetings resumed offline, with the participation of foreign ministers and representatives from 38 countries, and the adoption and approval of multiple regional cooperation documents. Against the backdrop of geopolitical challenges and economic recovery pressures, the series of Foreign Ministerial Meetings came just at the right time to unite the efforts and consensus of all East Asian countries committed to achieving peace and prosperity in this region.

In recent years, the situation in East Asia has been more complex under the impact of the great power game and the pandemic, but the practice of regional cooperation has not been curtailed. It has not only achieved many solid results in a number of fields but has also highlighted the Asian characteristics of the cooperation process, characteristics that have played a key role in maintaining regional stability and stimulating regional development. In this process, ASEAN has made a significant contribution to the development of the region. It plays a key role in leading the regional cooperation structure, contributing its experience and wisdom to the institutionalization of East Asian cooperation, and playing a coordinating role in various cooperation mechanisms. The institutionalized cooperation in East Asia started with ASEAN and gradually formed the current multi-field, multi-level, and multi-subject regional cooperation structure through the two milestones of the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation mechanism and the East Asia Summit, shifting from sub-regional to regional, from intra-regional to both intra- and extra-regional actors. The centrality of ASEAN is not only an important principle for maintaining its own integrity, independence, and dominance, but also a decisive factor affecting the survival of the current regional cooperation structure and model, which is related to the stability and development of East Asia as a whole.

As a strong supporter of ASEAN centrality, China and ASEAN share significant common interests in regional cooperation and have long established a broad consensus. ASEAN-China relations have always maintained a positive cooperation posture and are the most active and effective example of regional cooperation in East Asia. Since the establishment of ASEAN-China dialogue relations in 1991, China has not only been the first to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the first to start FTA negotiation with ASEAN, and actively participate in various regional cooperation mechanisms led by ASEAN, but also the first to give unequivocal support for ASEAN centrality in regional cooperation, its unity and strength, and the building of the ASEAN Community. In 2021, at the 30th-anniversary summit of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, President Xi Jinping and ASEAN jointly announced the establishment of ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, summarized the principle of dialogue without confrontation, partnership without alliance in ASEAN-China relations, and put forward the proposal on building a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable homeland together. The common aims give new impetus to the synergistic development of ASEAN-China relations and leading the future direction of East Asia cooperation.

Under the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, China and ASEAN have made remarkable progress in terms of cooperation areas, depth, and effectiveness. In addition to the existing cooperation pillars of political security, economic trade, and social and humanities, China and ASEAN have expanded their cooperation to blue economy, green development, science and technology innovation, digital economy, food security, public health, and many other areas. With the advancement of cooperation in various fields, China and ASEAN have paid more attention to the coordination of development strategies, including the joint construction of five proposals on building our home together, the high-quality implementation of RCEP, the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative and ASEAN's Outlook on the Indo-Pacific to achieve mutual reinforcement, and the promotion of Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative in ASEAN.

The process of East Asian cooperation has always continued to move forward because of the resilient ASEAN-China relationship. In terms of concrete results, since RCEP came into effect, the year-on-year growth rate of trade between China and ASEAN has been faster than the average growth rate of China's foreign trade, and ASEAN accounts for 14.9% of China's total foreign trade value, ranking first among China's trade partners. The momentum of economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN has continued to manifest itself. The China-Laos Railway has begun service and achieved a number of breakthroughs, and good progress has been made in the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, the China-Thailand railway, and many large-scale infrastructure projects. The rapid advancement has provided a guarantee for the restoration of economic and social vitality after the epidemic.

Based on the practice and demand of cooperation against Covid-19, China has launched the Health Shield Cooperation Initiative to build a more cohesive public health security community through a series of cooperation projects for ASEAN countries. Based on full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, China and ASEAN countries have jointly promoted the consultations of a code of conduct in the South China Sea. At the same time, China-ASEAN has accumulated richer experience and achievements in non-traditional security areas such as counter-terrorism, addressing climate change, cybersecurity, combating transnational crime, disaster prevention and mitigation.

At the Foreign Ministerial Meeting, the two parties adopted the Action Plan on ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which will be submitted to the Leaders' Meeting for approval. This means that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between China and ASEAN has entered a new stage of construction and implementation, and ASEAN-China relations will be given deeper meaning and richer connotation. ASEAN-China will continue to strengthen strategic coordination, enhance political mutual trust, deepen people-to-people ties, and achieve deeper cooperation in broader areas through synergistic development.

Looking back over the 30 years, the ASEAN-China relations have provided support for the East Asian cooperation process with its deep foundation and strong resilience, led East Asian countries to practice open regionalism together, maintained lasting peace in the region, and created the miracle of Asian renaissance and prosperity. Looking ahead, we believe that China and ASEAN, whose relations have been upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership, will be able to cope with various complex risks and challenges and bring the East Asian regional cooperation to a new stage.

Dong He is the Deputy Director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Jinan University.