'Dual-track' approach for better ASEAN ties

Just a few days after President Xi Jinping returned from the APEC economic leaders' meeting in Manila, Premier Li Keqiang attended the 18th China-ASEAN (10+1) Summit, the 18th ASEAN Plus Three (10+3) Summit and the 10th East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has always been a vital topic at these annual meetings. And the two successive trips made by China's top leaders to Southeast Asia signify the increasing importance of ASEAN in regional politics as well as in China's diplomatic strategy.

The ASEAN-related meetings and the EAS are expected to further boost cooperation between China and ASEAN, which in turn will help the implementation of China's Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road proposals, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative, to the benefit of the entire region. Regional cooperation can be deepened also by implementing the Phnom Penh Development Declaration, which was adopted in November 2012.