On October 11, as the most important series of high-level activities of ASEAN this year, the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and the series of East Asian leaders' meetings on cooperation concluded in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The theme of this summit is "ASEAN: Strengthening Connectivity and Resilience". During the summit, ASEAN countries put forward a series of new measures to promote ASEAN's strengthening of docking with the "Belt and Road Initiative". The summit also reached a series of important results on cooperation with China, which will promote new steps in China-ASEAN cooperation and create new opportunities for the upgrading of cooperation between the two sides and regional development.
ASEAN is committed to strengthening connectivity and resilience.
At this summit, ASEAN countries put forward a series of cooperation initiatives aimed at promoting the construction of the ASEAN community. The ASEAN Community was established in 2015 with the goal of further promoting regional economic integration. Strengthening infrastructure connectivity is one of its important tasks. Each rotating presidency of ASEAN will formulate the summit theme in combination with its own national strategy and development needs. In line with its own strategy of "turning a landlocked country into a land-linked country", the rotating presidency of ASEAN this year, Laos, hopes to turn itself from the end point of the China-Laos Railway into the hub of the Southeast Asian railway network through infrastructure construction, especially the connectivity of the railway network, so as to enhance regional logistics efficiency and economic vitality. In his opening speech at the ASEAN Summit, Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith pointed out that this year's ASEAN Summit focuses on nine key priorities, four of which involve "strengthening ASEAN connectivity" and five focus on "enhancing ASEAN strength", aiming to promote ASEAN's bilateral and multilateral cooperation and promote the construction of the ASEAN community.
The achievements reached at this summit demonstrate ASEAN's continuous efforts in regional connectivity and economic development. The parties reached dozens of documents covering fields such as addressing climate change, promoting supply chain cooperation, and developing artificial intelligence. These measures not only help turn ASEAN into a global growth center but also lay a solid foundation for promoting the implementation of the "ASEAN Community Vision 2025" and preparing for the ASEAN Community Vision 2045.
ASEAN countries hope that their development should be based on the principles of peace, stability, and sustainability, and external forces must not be allowed to interfere. Before and after the summit, some external noises and distractions appeared. For example, some Japanese politicians proposed the concept of an "Asian version of NATO", which caused concerns among ASEAN countries; the United States and the Philippines created conflicts on the South China Sea issue at the summit, trying to intensify regional confrontation. In response, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamed Hasan clearly stated: "ASEAN does not need NATO." Thongloun also reiterated that ASEAN should continue to adhere to the common goals of peace, stability, and sustainable development and adhere to the equal and mutually beneficial multilateralism stance. ASEAN countries must remain vigilant to prevent external forces from taking the opportunity to interfere with regional peaceful development and ensure that ASEAN independently maintains the security and prosperity of the region in the complex international situation.
Promote the upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.
The friendly relationship between China and ASEAN has a long history. The two sides are good neighbors, good friends, and good partners connected by mountains and rivers and sharing similar cultures. In recent years, cooperation between the two sides in the political, economic, cultural and other fields has continuously deepened, and building a community with a shared future has become the consensus of both sides. At the 27th China-ASEAN (10+1) leaders' meeting held concurrently with the summit, China and ASEAN reached a number of cooperation results, including issuing multiple joint statements on combating telecom network fraud and online gambling, deepening people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation, promoting the development of smart agriculture, and promoting the establishment of sustainable and inclusive digital ecological cooperation. What has particularly attracted attention is that the leaders of China and the ten ASEAN countries jointly announced the substantial conclusion of the negotiations on the 3.0 version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and issued the "Joint Statement of China and ASEAN on the Substantial Conclusion of the Upgrade Negotiations of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Version".
Both sides agreed that the substantial conclusion of the negotiations shows that both sides firmly maintain a rules-based trading environment and are committed to deepening economic integration and practical cooperation in a complex global environment. Both sides emphasized that version 3.0 realizes important added value on the basis of the existing China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement", covering digital economy, green economy, supply chain connectivity, standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, competition and consumer protection, small, medium and micro enterprises, economic and technical cooperation and other fields. This will comprehensively expand the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and ASEAN in emerging fields, strengthen the connectivity between the two sides in the field of standards and regulations, and promote trade facilitation and inclusive development. Both sides confirmed that they will accelerate the completion of legal review and domestic procedures and promote the signing of the upgrade protocol in 2025.
ASEAN countries participating in the meeting said that they are willing to take this opportunity to strengthen the docking with the "Belt and Road Initiative", continuously promote regional economic integration, build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, and contribute to maintaining regional peace, stability, and prosperity. In the view of the public opinion here, this marks a new step in economic and trade cooperation between the two sides. The upgraded free trade area will cover more fields, including reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers and promoting cooperation in emerging fields such as the digital economy and green economy. This will not only be conducive to the recovery and growth of the regional economy but also inject new impetus into global economic development.
"A more open free trade area will promote mutual benefit and win-win results." Yong Chanthalangsy, the Lao representative of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, said that the 3.0 version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area will promote the flow of goods and economic and trade exchanges between the two sides and inject new impetus into the economic development of both sides. Shen Shang, a policy analyst at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, believes that the close connection between China and ASEAN is crucial for the economic development of the Asia-Pacific region. The upgraded free trade area will further deepen regional cooperation and enhance regional competitiveness.
