‘ASEAN+3’ cooperation system gets praise

▶ China calls for regional economic integration, supply chain stability

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday called on members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China, Japan and South Korea to keep up the process of regional economic integration and work on the stability of industrial and supply chains, while reiterating China’s opening-up policy, when attending the ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea (“ASEAN+3”) Summit.

The commitment by “ASEAN+3” to open and integrated development, and its efforts to optimize and upgrade regional industrial and supply chains in a stable way, serves the common interests of all countries and injects new impetus into the world economy, experts said.

Li noted that countries should keep the process of regional economic integration going, promote the full effectiveness and implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and release the maximum dividends of the free trade agreement.

Li also called for countries to maintain the stability of the industrial and supply chains, and adhere to opening-up and coordinated development to push the optimization and upgrading of regional industrial and supply chains always in smooth operation.

While building a solid foundation for supply chain cooperation in Asia, the RCEP promotes trade and investment convenience in Asia and helps the formation of a unified market in the region, Shen Minghui, a research fellow at The National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Thanks to the RCEP, Asia’s regional economic integration will be strengthened, Shen said, urging member countries to actively participate in cooperation.

China’s economy is deeply integrated into the region and the world, and China will stick to the basic national policy of opening-up, Li said, adding that China is willing to bring new opportunities to other partners with its own development and inject new impetus into regional cooperation.

He said that in the past decade, China had initiated more than 130 cooperative proposals or projects under the “ASEAN+3” cooperation framework, most of which have been completed now.

The participating leaders at the summit said that China, Japan and South Korea are major partners of ASEAN countries, noting that the “ASEAN+3” is the ballast of regional cooperation and economic development, and safeguarding regional peace and stability.

They called on all sides to be closely united and strengthen cooperation in areas such as agriculture, digitalization, financial security, environment protection and cultural exchanges.