Chinese premier calls for openness, stronger alignment of development strategies

KUALA LUMPUR -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Monday that China is willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with various parties, uphold openness and cooperation, and continuously unleash economic potential to explore broader development space.

Addressing the 28th ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Malaysia, Li first congratulated Timor-Leste on officially joining the ASEAN family.

Over the past year, cooperation among ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea has generally maintained a positive momentum, demonstrating the resilience and vitality of the East Asian economy, Li said.

At the same time, due to complex changes in the international economic and trade landscape, East Asia is facing growing economic difficulties and challenges, with increasing instability and uncertainty in development, he added.

In confronting these difficulties, Li said, wisdom and strength can be drawn from the past.

For decades, East Asia has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the world, creating one economic miracle after another -- achievements that continue to inspire and fill us with pride, he added.

Openness and cooperation are valuable experiences explored and accumulated through practice, and should be cherished and carried forward at all times, so that they remain a marked advantage and a key to success for East Asia's economy, Li said.

He stressed that the East Asian Miracle is not a story of the past, but one that continues to unfold.

Li called on relevant parties to create an environment conducive to regional development. To fully safeguard the hard-won peace and stability in East Asia, he urged continued commitment to resolving differences through dialogue and consultation, upholding free trade and the multilateral trading system, opposing all forms of protectionism, and steadily advancing regional economic integration.

The premier called for deepening collaboration in the industrial and supply chains, and urged relevant parties to leverage their respective strengths, further promote connectivity and cooperation, and raise the level of division of labor and collaboration to improve the efficiency of factor flows.

China is willing to work with all parties to implement the statement on strengthening regional economic and financial cooperation issued at the meeting, and to promote pragmatic cooperation in finance, trade, food security to create more highlights and growth points for cooperation, he added.

Li called for joint efforts to foster and strengthen new growth drivers. He urged all parties to strengthen support for scientific and technological innovation, carry out joint research, continuously enhance the innovation capability "from zero to one," improve the iterative efficiency "from one to N" to strengthen innovation as a driving force for development.

He added that China is ready to deepen cooperation with all parties in areas such as digital economy, electric vehicles, and clean energy to jointly seize development opportunities.

Other leaders at the summit said that since the inception of the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation mechanism, it has played an important role in addressing challenges and promoting development, yielding fruitful outcomes. Amid growing uncertainty in the international landscape and rising trade protectionism, countries should further enhance solidarity and coordination, strengthen the sense of regional community, safeguard peace, stability and the multilateral trading system, and remain committed to openness and mutual benefit.

They stressed that it is important to continuously advance cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, finance, food security, green economy, people-to-people exchanges, public health, climate change, emergency response and disaster mitigation, and combating transnational crimes, strengthen the resilience of industrial and supply chains, promote regional connectivity and economic integration, as well as pursue innovative, inclusive and sustainable development.

The summit was chaired by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, the ASEAN chair for 2025.