China, ASEAN make great strides in building community with shared future

ALIGNING DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR SEAMLESS CONNECTIVITY

In a bid to coordinate efforts to facilitate connectivity, China and ASEAN have taken a major step this year by synergizing the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025.

For better connectivity, China is encouraged to actively support the development and financing of ASEAN infrastructure projects such as railways, highways, port and harbors, airports, and power and communication infrastructure, according to a joint statement adopted in November.

As one of the key regions along the BRI, ASEAN is now home to a range of iconic infrastructure projects under the BRI cooperation, including the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia, the China-Laos railway, the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville expressway in Cambodia, the East Coast Rail Link in Malaysia and the China-Singapore land-sea trade corridor, among others.

The alignment of strategies also covers the connection of information and technology to better benefit people in the digital age. The two sides launched the Smart City Cooperation Initiative at the 22nd ASEAN-China Summit this year, pledging to explore science, technology and innovation cooperation to support more sustainable urbanization. More and more partnerships will be established between cities of both sides.

JOINTLY UPHOLDING MULTILATERALISM, FREE TRADE

Over the past year, China and ASEAN have continued to stand together and firmly uphold multilateralism and an open world economy amid exteral headwinds, playing a big part in regional growth.

The marathon negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a mega trade pact, achieved a major breakthrough this year. Fifteen participating countries of the RCEP will start legal preparations for the signing of the pact in 2020, after concluding text-based negotiations and essentially all market access issues, although India has yet to join the pact citing "significant outstanding issues."

China and ASEAN member states have always been working together to advance the RCEP talks and push for their early implementation, a testament to their commitment to multilateral free trade.

"The multilateral trade approach is swiftly replacing unilateralism and protectionism, which are the enemies and even economic cancer of global development," said Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh.

Meanwhile, China and ASEAN have also boosted coordination and cooperation in multilateral platforms such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, and strengthened communication in key regional issues such as the Rakhine state issue in Myanmar as well as the Korean Peninsula peace process, said Huang, the Chinese ambassador.