A shared future unfolds
China and ASEAN are not just partners to each other; they are co-authors of a viable and attractive model for 21st-century regional cooperation
In May 2025, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations charted a long-term course by adopting the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, a blueprint anchored in its three-pillar structure and six strategic priorities aimed at deepening integration. In October, China unveiled the Recommendations of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for National Economic and Social Development, outlining a transformative domestic agenda focused on high-quality growth and technological self-reliance.
Superficially, these are distinct national and regional plans. However, a deeper analysis reveals a profound strategic convergence of two development narratives for a more stable, prosperous and shared future for humanity. This synergy, forged over decades of partnership and now crystallizing in synchronized blueprints, offers a compelling model of regional cooperation that stands in stark contrast to the zero-sum geopolitics and fragmentation elsewhere that is threatening the global order.
The bedrock of this convergence is a fundamental philosophical alignment. Both China and ASEAN prioritize placing human-centric progress, equity and shared benefits above pure capital accumulation or geopolitical rivalry. This common value system translates into parallel strategic pillars: a steadfast commitment to green, low-carbon transitions as the non-negotiable design of modernization, and a recognition of technology and innovation as the core of future competitiveness. Crucially, both sides advocate a balanced approach — pursuing strategic autonomy and independent development in critical areas while remaining firmly committed to open collaboration and multilateral, rules-based systems.
This philosophical and strategic congruence finds its concrete, institutional expression in the newly upgraded China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0. By extending liberalization into the digital and green economies, it moves beyond the traditional goods trade to create rules and pathways for co-developing new quality productive forces. It transforms the trading relationship into a platform for industrial synergy, enabling ASEAN's industrialization and digitalization goals to align with China's innovation-driven development.
Against the backdrop of global trade tensions and "de-risking" narratives, China-ASEAN trade has not merely endured but thrived. In the first 11 months of 2025, ASEAN maintained its position as China's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting 6.82 trillion yuan ($973.24 billion), growing 8.5 percent year-on-year and accounting for 16.6 percent of China's total foreign trade. This resilience underscores the deep and mutually beneficial economic regional integration between China and ASEAN countries. China's role as a massive, stable global buyer and investment source has provided a crucial ballast for regional growth.
Furthermore, both parties are actively enhancing their agency within the regional architecture. ASEAN is consciously evolving from a passive geopolitical arena into an active rule-shaper, seeking to define its own economic and strategic paths. China's consistent 30-year policy toward ASEAN, emphasizing institutional inclusiveness and sustainable cooperation, provides a stable and respectful framework that supports this aspiration. This dynamic is moving the relationship from its initial phase of market opening to a more mature stage of rules shaping and joint governance synergy.
China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period will see this synergy accelerate and institutionalize. Cooperation will pivot decisively toward institutional openness, including the alignment of standards, regulations and digital governance. China's high-level platforms such as the pilot free trade zones and Hainan Free Trade Port will serve as crucial testing grounds for rules that can integrate with ASEAN's economic strategies.
Connectivity will be deepened on two fronts: the hard connectivity of infrastructure, exemplified by the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, and the soft connectivity of compatible regulations and digital systems. Collaboration in artificial intelligence, green finance and clean energy will give impetus to the dual engines of digital and green transformation. Moreover, the deepening of the internationalization of the renminbi and cross-border payment systems will furnish a stable, sovereign financial infrastructure, reducing systemic vulnerabilities.
Importantly, this model is inherently inclusive and developmental. Initiatives within CAFTA 3.0 and bilateral cooperation frameworks explicitly aim to support small — and medium-sized enterprises, enhance capacity in less-developed member states and ensure benefits are broadly shared. This counters the pernicious "winner-takes-all" dynamic often associated with purely market-driven integration.
The China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership stands as a testament to a different logic of international relations. In a world where blocs are hardening and decoupling rhetoric persists, China and ASEAN are demonstrating that high-standard, mutual openness is the surest path to resilience and prosperity. Their converging strategic visions — ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and China's 15th Five-Year Plan — represent a cohesive force for regional economic self-reliance and governance autonomy.
This partnership is more than the sum of its trade flows and infrastructure projects. It is a conscious, collective endeavor to build a community with a shared future for the Asia-Pacific — one defined not by domination or alignment against others, but by peace, shared prosperity and a common right to shape its own destiny. In doing so, China and ASEAN are not just partners to each other; they are co-authors of a viable and attractive model for 21st-century regional cooperation.
The author is the vice-dean of the China-ASEAN Research Institute at Guangxi University. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.
