FM pledges partnership with ASEAN countries

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday that China stands ready to deepen comprehensive strategic partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to contribute more to peace and development in the region.

The pledge was made when Wang co-hosted the ASEAN-China foreign ministers' meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Wang suggested the two sides build a model of common development and mutual connectivity, strengthen coordination on global governance and jointly safeguard peace and stability in the region.

China would like to work with ASEAN to promote synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific to yield early results, Wang said.

He called for speeding up follow-up negotiations on the China-ASEAN free trade area and urged ASEAN to work with China to uphold open regionalism and promote real multilateralism.

Wang underlined the need to strengthen an ASEAN-centered regional architecture to safeguard the common interests of developing countries and contribute to global governance.

He reiterated the need to accelerate consultation on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea to make it a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship.