Xi to mark 30 years of China's ties with ASEAN

President Xi Jinping will attend and chair the special summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations on Monday via video link to review the ties and map out further development.

Xi will discuss with leaders from the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations how to summarize the achievements and experiences over the past 30 years and navigate their relationship in the future, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a daily news conference on Friday.

Viewing ASEAN as a neighbor and important cooperation partner of China, Zhao said that the two sides have forged the largest trading partnership, the most substantial cooperation partnership and the most dynamic strategic partnership since they established the dialogue relationship in 1991.

The upcoming summit demonstrates the great importance China and ASEAN attach to their relationship, Zhao said.

China expects to continue to work together with ASEAN to upgrade their relations, build a closer community with a shared future and promote regional peace, stability and prosperity, he added.

China and ASEAN have built the biggest free-trade zone among developing countries, and their bilateral trade volume has increased 85 fold over the past three decades.

Statistics showed that bilateral trade reached $630.54 billion in the first three quarters of 2021, up 31.1 percent year-on-year.

China has also provided ASEAN member states with over 360 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and a great volume of emergency medical supplies.

In 2019, over 65 million mutual visits were recorded. So far, over 200 pairs of sister city relationships have been established.