Spotlight: China, ASEAN envision new prospects for cooperation under Belt and Road Initiative

China's Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is heralding new prospects for cooperation between China and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The initiative, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aimed at reviving the ancient trade routes that span Asia, Africa and Europe, has been hailed by Xi as making steady progress.

China sees ASEAN as a priority region in implementing the initiative, which is set to promote trade and infrastructure construction in Southeast Asia.

As the weekend ASEAN summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, declared that an economic community of the 10-nation bloc will be established by the end of the year, China's proposal to jointly build the Belt and Road with ASEAN countries carries more practical significance.

MUTUAL BENEFITS BROUGHT BY BELT & ROAD INITIATIVE

In October 2013, during a visit to Indonesia, Xi said China is willing to work with ASEAN countries to jointly build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and an even closer China-ASEAN community of common destiny, which has charted the course for the long-term development of the China-ASEAN relations.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang further proposed a "2+7 cooperation framework," mapping out practical cooperation in various areas.

"The China-ASEAN cooperation has brought tangible benefits to related countries," Song Junying, a researcher with China Institute of International Studies, told Xinhua.

Song highlighted that such proposals as the Belt and Road Initiative and international cooperation on production capacity have brought new opportunities for regional cooperation, from which ASEAN countries hope to gain momentum for development.

China and ASEAN's joint bid for constructing the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road not only builds on the ancient maritime silk route and the bilateral dialogue and cooperation over more than 20 years, but also reflects a common demand for win-win cooperation and development, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Xu Bu told Economic Daily, a leading Chinese paper.

On interconnectivity, ASEAN countries need to further improve infrastructure construction and interconnectivity, while mechanisms such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund project proposed by China can provide long-term and low-cost financing services for ASEAN countries, Xu said.

On production capacity cooperation, China and ASEAN countries, with geographic vicinity, now enjoy close economic and trade ties and have high complementarity in their manufacturing sectors, which has laid a sound basis for cooperation in this regard, he said.

Besides, both sides can jointly build a variety of industrial parks, attract Chinese enterprises to invest in ASEAN countries and complete the building of regional supply, industrial and value chains, while elevating the status of China and ASEAN in global industrial distribution, Xu said.

FRUITS YIELDED IN CHINA-ASEAN COOPERATION

This year marks the 12th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership between China and ASEAN.

China-ASEAN relations have maintained a strong momentum that is evident in close high-level exchanges, deeper political trust, fruitful economic cooperation and wider people-to-people contact, Xu told Xinhua.

Xi's successful state visits to Vietnam and Singapore on Nov. 5-7 have highlighted the increased political trust, he said.

Premier Li's just-concluded trip to Malaysia also boosted Beijing's ties with ASEAN nations.

Cooperation between China and ASEAN has become closer in regional affairs, which has greatly promoted regional peace, stability and development, Xu said.

On economy and trade, China has become ASEAN's largest trade partner for six consecutive years while ASEAN, China's third largest trade partner for four years in a row.

Bilateral trade between China and ASEAN has exceeded 480 billion U.S. dollars and two-way investment topped 120 billion dollars last year, Xu said.

Through joint efforts, negotiations on upgrading the China-ASEAN free trade zone and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership are going smoothly.

Bilateral cooperation on interconnectivity and production capacity has been upgraded to a higher level, with new breakthroughs obtained in projects such as the high-speed railway between Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta and Bandung as well as the China-Laos and China-Thailand railways.

China Railway Corporation and four Indonesian firms have agreed to set up a joint venture to build a high-speed railway linking Jakarta and Bandung. The project is expected to start this month and take three years to complete.

On Nov. 13, the Chinese and Laotian governments signed an agreement on the construction of a cross-border railway. The railroad will stretch 418 km to link the two countries' border area, Mohan and Boten ports, and Lao's capital Vientiane.

In late 2014, China and Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding on railway cooperation, under which dual-track rail lines will be built to connect Thailand's northeast Nong Khai province, the capital of Bangkok and the eastern Rayong province. The railway will also be a section of the planned railway running through southern China, Laos and Thailand.

Furthermore, on Nov. 12, senior foreign affairs officials from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam agreed on the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) framework at the first LMC foreign ministers' meeting in Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The sub-region cooperation mechanism has been complementary to other cooperation mechanisms, promoted ASEAN community construction and regional integration, as well as added new content into the China-ASEAN cooperation, Xu said.

GREAT POTENTIALS FOR COMMON DEVELOPMENT

2016 marks the first year in China's 13th five-year plan and the first after the establishment of the ASEAN community.

"With China-ASEAN cooperation enjoying great momentum, a series of favorable factors will provide new opportunities for the development of bilateral ties," said Jiang Ruiping, vice president of China Foreign Affairs University.

Jiang said China's 13th five-year plan and the Belt and Road Initiative will open a broad space for the pragmatic cooperation between China and ASEAN.

Taking the establishment of the ASEAN community as an opportunity, the two sides will enhance the docking of their development strategies, continue to promote bilateral economic and trade ties, increase mutual investments so as to realize common development, said Xu Bu, the Chinese ambassador to ASEAN.

Xu suggested that to further promote pragmatic cooperation between the two sides on the Belt and Road Initiative, China and ASEAN should focus on five areas, namely policy communication, road connectivity, trade facilitation, currency circulation and mutual understanding between the peoples.

However, the complicated international situation and weak recovery of the world economy in the past year has imposed pressures on the economic growth of China and ASEAN countries, Xu said.

"Deepening economic and trade ties as well as enhancing production capacity and financial cooperation to cultivate new growth points is the common wish of both parties," the ambassador said.

"China and ASEAN countries have the wisdom and capacity to deal with some controversial issues, and have the confidence and willingness to promote all-round cooperation, which is in our common interests and conducive to regional peace, stability and development," he said. Endi