"The influence of the East China Expo is increasing"
On the occasion of the 20th China ASEAN Expo and the China ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, ASEAN Secretary General Gao Jinhong was interviewed by Chinese media in Nanning, Guangxi. He stated that for many years, ASEAN and China have maintained close cooperation to achieve mutual benefit and benefit the people of both sides. China is an important development partner of ASEAN, and a more open China will bring more opportunities to ASEAN. In the future, ASEAN will continue to maintain close cooperation with China.
China and ASEAN countries are connected by mountains and rivers, and have close blood ties.Gao Jinhong stated that in the past 10 years, Southeast Asia and even the whole world have experienced many major challenges, but ASEAN and China have always maintained close cooperation. "Our cooperation upholds the interests of both parties. Considering the population and economic size of ASEAN and China, our cooperation has global significance."
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the initiative of jointly building the "the Belt and Road". Gao Jinhong stated that Indonesia is the pioneer of the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. Over the past 10 years, the "the Belt and Road" initiative has helped ASEAN countries build infrastructure, and has been deeply linked with the ASEAN Connectivity Master Plan 2025 to help ASEAN develop and prosper. "According to the statistics of the Asian Development Bank and the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN region needs about 184 billion US dollars to invest in infrastructure construction every year. The joint construction of the the Belt and Road has made an important contribution to promoting the infrastructure construction of ASEAN countries. ASEAN should continue to seize the development opportunities brought by the joint construction of the the Belt and Road," said Gao Jinhong.
On January 1, 2010, the China ASEAN Free Trade Area was officially established. Over the past decade, bilateral trade in goods and services has grown rapidly, with deep integration of industrial and value chains. At present, China and ASEAN are vigorously promoting negotiations on the 3.0 version of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area, committed to enhancing the level of openness in the economic and trade fields of both sides, and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy, green economy, and supply chain connectivity.
"ASEAN and China are good neighbors, good friends, and good partners. China is a staunch supporter of ASEAN's development. China has maintained its position as ASEAN's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years and is ASEAN's second largest source of investment. ASEAN and China have agreed to accelerate negotiations on the 3.0 version of the Free Trade Area." Gao Jinhong said that both ASEAN and China support an open and free trade system, which has enabled ASEAN and China to achieve win-win cooperation.
In June of this year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement came into full force for 15 member countries, and the world's largest free trade zone entered a new stage of comprehensive implementation. Gao Jinhong stated that China is an important member of RCEP, and within the RCEP framework, ASEAN and China cooperate closely. "ASEAN looks forward to strengthening contacts with China in various fields such as economy and trade, investment, personnel exchanges, regional security, etc., to benefit the people of both sides," said Gao Jinhong.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China ASEAN Expo. Gao Jinhong highly praised the East China Expo, believing that it is an important platform for promoting trade, investment, tourism and other fields of docking between ASEAN and China, and is a significant achievement of sustained cooperation between the two sides. "Maintaining high-level cooperation over the past 20 years is remarkable. ASEAN and China have achieved this, and the influence of the East China Expo is increasing." Gao Jinhong said that in 2021, ASEAN and China officially announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership, which is a new milestone in the history of bilateral relations. The East China Expo has also taken this opportunity to take it to a higher level and become a productive part of the ASEAN China comprehensive strategic partnership, "which will continue to contribute to the future cooperation and prosperity of ASEAN and China.".