BEIJING: The exchanges between China and Southeast Asian countries have recently reached another new height, which speaks to the common aspiration of regional countries for solidarity, cooperation and development, and demonstrates the robust growth of relations between China and neighboring countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday.
Lin made the comment on a media inquiry that China and Southeast Asian countries have engaged in frequent interactions recently and in particular, the exchanges between heads of state and government reached another new height.
Last Friday, on the margins of the 31st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Peru, President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister of Singapore Lawrence Wong and Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Within a month, Premier Li Qiang, together with the heads of government from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, attended the eighth Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit.
Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang visited Singapore and co-chaired the China-Singapore bilateral cooperation mechanism meetings. Vice President Han Zheng visited Indonesia and Brunei. Indonesia’s newly elected President Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim visited China.
We are also good partners with integrated interests and a shared future, said Lin, while outlining several achievements, including important common understandings reached between China and Indonesia on building a community with a shared future with regional and global influence, the building of a community with a shared future both bilaterally and multilaterally between China and Malaysia and Mekong countries reaching a new level.
Lin added that Belt and Road cooperation plans were signed between China and Malaysia and between China and Singapore. The Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway was officially launched for a year, serving over six million passengers. The China-Laos Railway saw booming passenger travel as well as freight shipping, playing an increasingly important role as a golden route for transportation. Construction of Malaysia’s East Coast Rail Link made steady progress.
The spokesperson said the China-Laos-Thailand international freight train service was officially launched. The China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 Upgrade Negotiations were substantially concluded. Visa-free arrangement between China and Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Laos produced remarkable results, and the “Lancang-Mekong visa” policy was officially implemented.
China and relevant countries reached important common understandings on properly putting maritime differences under control, enhancing maritime cooperation, speeding up consultations on a code of conduct in the South China Sea, and jointly keeping the South China Sea peaceful and stable, Lin added.
Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific is the shared home of China and neighboring countries. China has all along put the neighborhood as a priority in the overall diplomacy, said the spokesperson.
