Spotlight: China, ASEAN expected to make fortune together

"Eighteen" is considered a lucky number in Chinese tradition -- a good sign that the China-ASEAN ties will make a big stride toward a broader space for development, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here Saturday at the 18th China-ASEAN (10+1) leaders' meeting.

In Chinese, "18" is pronounced similar to "make a fortune for sure." To make a fortune together with ASEAN, Li pledged the 10-member bloc infrastructure loans totaling 10 billion U.S. dollars, and proposed railway and production capacity cooperation amid closer partnership with the economically converging region.

CHINESE PROPOSAL ON CHINA-ASEAN RELATIONS

The China-ASEAN relationship, which transcends bilateral dimension, is becoming an important cornerstone of peace, stability and development of East Asia, said Li, who is in Kuala Lumpur also for the ASEAN-China, Japan and South Korea (10+3) leaders' meeting and the East Asia Summit, as well as a visit to Malaysia.

At the 10+1 leaders' meeting, Li made a six-pronged proposal on China-ASEAN cooperation.

He urged China and ASEAN nations to strengthen institution building by implementing their new five-year action plan and the 2+7 cooperation framework.

The two sides should accelerate the upgrade of trade and economic cooperation, Li said.

He also called on China and ASEAN to speed up the implementation of the results of the negotiations on an upgrade of their Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and make concerted efforts to conclude as early as possible the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP is a proposed collective FTA between the 10 member states of the ASEAN and six countries with which ASEAN has individual FTAs: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

Li called for efforts by China and ASEAN to conjoin China's Belt and Road Initiative with other regional development strategies to promote integration.

China and ASEAN should also explore cooperation in international production capacity cooperation, and jointly raise the level of cooperation in security, Li said.

The Chinese premier also asked the two sides to promote the sustainable development of the region by promoting maritime cooperation, strengthening agricultural capacity construction, building a platform for sharing information on environmental protection and deepening people-to-people exchanges.

CHINA'S PROPOSAL ON 10+3 MECHANISM

The resumption of the leaders' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea and the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community will unleash fresh momentum for the development of the 10+3 mechanism, Li said at the 10+3 leaders' meeting.

He proposed acceleration of economic integration of East Asia. China is ready to join efforts with relevant parties to conclude negotiations of the RCEP in 2016, he noted.

Li then called for concerted efforts to safeguard financial stability of the region.

Relevant parties should raise the level of inter-connectivity, Li said, noting that China has been accelerating the construction of a maritime cooperation platform in East Asia so as to boost cooperation in maritime inter-connectivity, research and personnel training.

Meanwhile, Li urged the parties to carry out international production capacity cooperation and deepen cooperation in agriculture and poverty mitigation.

The parties should also expand people-to-people exchanges, Li noted, calling on them to actively promote the development of the mechanism of ministerial-level meetings in areas such as tourism, education, culture and news.

POSITIVE REACTIONS

Speaking positively of the development of the relations with China, ASEAN leaders present at the 10+1 meeting held that China's development is conducive to the stability and development of the region.

ASEAN attaches great importance to and values the strategic partnership between the bloc and China, the leaders said, adding that ASEAN and China have much more common interests than divergences.

The leaders pledged that they would not allow the overall situations of the ASEAN-China relations to be affected by one or two issues.

The bloc is ready to join efforts with China to lift bilateral relations to a new height and promote peace and development of the region.

At the 10+3 leaders' meeting, participants spoke positively of China's efforts to push for cooperation among the 10+3 members and the significance and influence of the resumption of the leaders' meeting of China, Japan and South Korea.

They lauded the 10+3 mechanism as the main channel of cooperation in East Asia and the driving force for peace and development of the region.

The leaders urged further steps to promote East Asia integration, deepen cooperation in trade and economy, finance and investment, increase regional inter-connectivity, accelerate negotiations for the RCEP, encourage people-to-people exchanges, and actively address non-traditional security challenges, so as to promote peace and prosperity of East Asia. Endi