On November 22, President Xi Jinping attended and chaired the Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations. At the summit, the leaders announced to elevate China-ASEAN relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This marks a new milestone in the relations between the two sides.

Over the past 30 years, bilateral trade and economic cooperation as well as economic integration has been deepening, all demonstrating strong vitality. China-ASEAN trade has expanded more than 80 folds, from less than USD8 billion in 1991 to USD684.6 billion in 2020. For 12 years since 2009, China has been ASEAN’s largest trading partner, and in 2020, ASEAN became China’s largest trading partner for the first time. From January to October this year, China-ASEAN trade reached USD703.3 billion, up 30% year-on-year, predicating a record high for the whole year. Two-way investment cooperation has continued to flourish. China is a major source of foreign investment of ASEAN, and vice versa; so far, two-way investment between the two sides has amounted to around USD300 billion. Through joint efforts, a batch of profitable and exemplar cooperation projects that improve well-being and facilitate connectivity have been implemented, contributing to economic prosperity and social progress in the region.

In the next step, we will work with ASEAN to implement the important consensus of our leaders on the trade and economic front. We will work toward a new round of upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, jointly forge inclusive, modern, all-round and mutually beneficial China-ASEAN trade and economic ties, and do our part in building a closer community with a shared future for China and ASEAN. Thank you.