GREAT POTENTIALS FOR COMMON DEVELOPMENT
2016 marks the first year in China's 13th five-year plan and the first after the establishment of the ASEAN community.
"With China-ASEAN cooperation enjoying great momentum, a series of favorable factors will provide new opportunities for the development of bilateral ties," said Jiang Ruiping, vice president of China Foreign Affairs University.
Jiang said China's 13th five-year plan and the Belt and Road Initiative will open a broad space for the pragmatic cooperation between China and ASEAN.
Taking the establishment of the ASEAN community as an opportunity, the two sides will enhance the docking of their development strategies, continue to promote bilateral economic and trade ties, increase mutual investments so as to realize common development, said Xu Bu, the Chinese ambassador to ASEAN.
Xu suggested that to further promote pragmatic cooperation between the two sides on the Belt and Road Initiative, China and ASEAN should focus on five areas, namely policy communication, road connectivity, trade facilitation, currency circulation and mutual understanding between the peoples.
However, the complicated international situation and weak recovery of the world economy in the past year has imposed pressures on the economic growth of China and ASEAN countries, Xu said.
"Deepening economic and trade ties as well as enhancing production capacity and financial cooperation to cultivate new growth points is the common wish of both parties," the ambassador said.
"China and ASEAN countries have the wisdom and capacity to deal with some controversial issues, and have the confidence and willingness to promote all-round cooperation, which is in our common interests and conducive to regional peace, stability and development," he said.
