Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that the East Asia Summit (EAS) should focus on development and cooperation in the context of sluggish global economic growth and increasing pressure of economic downturn in the region.
Wang made the remakes when attending the sixth East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in the Lao capital Vientiane, adding that all parties in the region should fully implement the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to narrow differences of development within the region.
As 2016 marks the beginning of the second decade for the EAS, the minister suggested that participants of the summit stick to its nature of a "leaders-led strategic forum," to ASEAN's central role, to the "ASEAN way" which includes consensus-building and accommodating the comfort level of all parties, and continuously promote cooperation in key areas.
Terrorism and other forms of non-traditional security threats are on the rise in the region and have become a common challenge for regional countries, Wang said, urging all parties of the EAS to cooperate to fight against these threats and contain the spread of extremist terrorism.
The EAS should also deepen its discussion on innovating security concepts and building a regional security architecture that reflects the region's realities and meets all parties' needs, Wang said, noting that China is willing to enhance dialogue and exchanges with all parties on the issue.
