Full text of Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli's speech at China-ASEAN Expo, Business and Investment Summit (1)

Following is the full text of Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli's speech delivered Friday at the 12th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in southwest Chinese city of Nanning, translated by Xinhua.

Join Hands to Build A Closer China-ASEAN Community of Shared Destiny, Featuring Peace and Cooperation, Openness and Inclusiveness, Mutual Benefits and Win-win Relations

-- Speech by Zhang Gaoli, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, at the opening ceremony of the 12th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit

Nanning, Guangxi, September 18, 2015

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, friends,

I am delighted to join you in the golden autumn in Nanning, the beautiful Green City of China, for the 12th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit. First, please allow me to extend, on behalf of President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and the Chinese government and people, our warm welcome to all distinguished guests and warm congratulations on the opening of the 12th Expo and the Summit.

China and ASEAN are friendly neighbors linked by land and sea and natural partners of cooperation. More than 2,000 years ago, our ancestors created the ancient maritime Silk Road, which has become a route of peaceful exchanges, as well as economic, trade and cultural exchanges between the people in China and Southeast Asian countries. In the long history after that, numerous envoys, merchants, scholars and craftsmen from China and ASEAN nations traveled along the route and promoted the progress of human civilization.

Today, with the deepening world multi-polarization, economic globalization, cultural diversity and social informationization, China and ASEAN should grasp the trend of the times, uphold the principles of mutual assistance and mutual benefits to further our friendly cooperation and become a major force for maintaining regional peace and stability and promoting regional development and prosperity.

--Our mutual trust has grown. President Xi Jinping made the proposal of building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and a closer China-ASEAN Community of Shared Destiny through the joint efforts of China and ASEAN. His proposal has won wide approval and support from ASEAN nations, because it is a great cause that will boost regional economic cooperation, beef up exchanges between different civilizations, promote world peace and development, and bring benefits to all people around the world. Premier Li Keqiang has put forward a "2+7 cooperation framework". With joint efforts from the two sides, the "Belt and Road" initiative is connecting with the building of an ASEAN community and ASEAN countries' development strategies.

--Our economic integration has been furthered. China is ASEAN' s biggest trade partner while ASEAN is China' s third largest trade partner, fourth largest export destination and second largest source of import. Last year, bilateral trade volume has exceeded 480 billion US dollars, up by 8.3 per cent, or 4.9 percentage points higher than China' s overall foreign trade growth. The two-way accumulative investment has surpassed 130 billion dollars. We have made progress in negotiations of upgrading the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) and the negotiations of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The road map of economic cooperation in Pan - Beibu Gulf has been completed.

--Our areas of cooperation have been expanded. Bilateral practical cooperation has covered over 20 areas such as agriculture, transportation and culture and is expanding towards new areas like finance, new and high technology, green industry and sea. 2015 is the "Year of China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation". The two sides have designed and have been orderly implementing more than 40 projects, including the China-ASEAN maritime cooperation center, maritime emergency aid hot line and maritime school. In recent years, both sides have combated together the international financial crisis, transnational crimes, natural disasters and cross border infectious diseases and other non-traditional security challenges.

The progress mentioned above fully reflects the strong vitality of China-ASEAN cooperation and signals the promising prospect of bilateral relations. It also fully demonstrates as long as we adhere to the Silk Road spirit of "peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win relations", countries of different ethnic backgrounds, with different beliefs and cultural backgrounds can live in peace and achieve common development.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends,

As the world is undergoing profound political and economic restructuring, China and ASEAN can only effectively cope with difficulties and challenges and realize greater development by building a community of shared interests, destiny and responsibility featuring political mutual trust, economic integration and cultural inclusiveness. The Chinese government has always attached great importance to friendly cooperation with ASEAN and placed priority on ASEAN in China' s diplomacy with surrounding countries.China supports a stronger ASEAN, and the building of the ASEAN Community and its leading role in regional cooperation. China is willing to work with ASEAN towards the goal of building the "Belt and Road" and a closer China-ASEAN Community of Shared Destiny, implement the "2+7 cooperation framework" to push for new progress in bilateral strategic partnership. Therefore, I have the following proposals:

First, further enhance political mutual trust and the connection between strategies of China and ASEAN countries. President Xi's "Belt and Road" initiative is entering a new stage of practical cooperation thanks to the joint efforts of China and ASEAN countries along the route. China is delighted to see ASEAN complete its building of a community by the end of this year, which will be the first sub-regional community in Asia. We hope China and ASEAN will work together to enhance the connection between "Belt and Road" and the ASEAN Community and ASEAN countries' strategies so as to contribute to our respective development objectives. Political mutual trust is an important guarantee of friendly cooperation. Both sides should maintain high-level exchanges and negotiate for a good-neighborly cooperation treaty between China and ASEAN countries and speed up the formulation of the Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity (2016-2020). We welcome ASEAN defense ministers to attend the informal China-ASEAN defense chiefs' meeting in October in China. As 2016 will mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue between China and ASEAN, China is willing to maintain close communication with ASEAN and hold successful commemorations for this occasion. (mo