‘Economic cooperation has huge potential’

BEIJING: Economic cooperation between China and Asean has been strong and resilient, with huge potential, said Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi ( pic).

Wang made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua after he held talks last week with Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the Indonesian president’s special envoy, and Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin in southwest China’s Yunnan province, upon wrapping up his South- East Asia tour, which has taken him to Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand and Singapore.

Wang noted that a new economic development pattern featuring “dual circulation”, in which domestic and overseas markets complement and reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay, has been a major strategic deployment by the Chinese government.

“China will promote high-quality development and build a new system of an open economy of a higher level,” Wang said.

“The scale of the domestic market will be further expanded. The combination of the domestic and international markets will be closer. There will be more room for cooperation between countries and China.”

Asean countries are in the best position to draw momentum from China’s new development pattern and seize the opportunity, Wang noted, adding that they are also in the best position to expand mutual benefit and achieve economic recovery and better development with China.

China’s huge market size will first benefit its neighbours, providing Asean countries with a broader export market, said the Chinese minister.