Jakarta, 21.10.2013 – Secretary-General of ASEAN, Le Luong Minh, visited China at the invitation of Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of China. The visit, from 16 to 19 October 2013, took place in the context of the 10th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership.
During the visit Secretary-General Minh had meetings with Yang Jiechi, State Councilor, Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, and Commerce Minister, Gao Hucheng.
Secretary-General Minh discussed with the high-ranking officials a wide range of issues pertaining to ASEAN-China cooperation.
The high ranking officials of China expressed their strong commitment to further deepen and broaden cooperation with ASEAN. They expressed full support for ASEAN’s central role in regional mechanisms and pledged to fully and effectively implement the ASEAN-China Plan of Action (2011-2015).
China reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening ASEAN-China connectivity covering the three elements of physical, institutional and people-to-people linkages.
In addition, China will work with ASEAN to improve further the volume of trade between the two sides, particularly by upgrading the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA). China also expressed its strong commitment to increase the flow of its investment to ASEAN. All these efforts look set to further expand ASEAN-China economic relations.
The high ranking officials reassured ASEAN that China will play a constructive role to contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
They called on ASEAN and China to work closely to make the second decade of the Strategic Partnership a “diamond decade” of partnership for the benefit of the peoples of ASEAN and China.
Secretary-General Minh expressed ASEAN’s strong desire to find new and sustained ways and means to build upon past achievements to further strengthen and deepen its relations with China in order to add necessary substance to the Strategic Partnership.
He stated that ASEAN and China need to redouble their efforts to implement the various targets set by the Leaders at the 16th ASEAN-China Summit on 9 October 2013 in Brunei Darussalam.
Secretary-General Minh also exchanged views and discussed cooperation, among others, in the fields of trade and investment, connectivity, maritime cooperation, disaster management, public health, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
As part of his trip to China, Secretary-General Minh visited the ASEAN-China Centre and met with the Secretary-General of the Centre, Ma Mingqiang. He also had meetings with President of the China-ASEAN Friendship Association, Madame Gu Xiulian and Secretary-General of the China-ASEAN Business Council, Xu Ningning. He delivered a speech at the China Foreign Affairs University.
Secretary-General Minh also visited Shanghai and met with the Executive Vice Major of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, Tu Guangshao. He visited a number of socio-economic development projects in Shanghai.