China, ASEAN to formulate strategic partnership vision toward 2030

MANILA - China proposes the formulation of a vision for strategic partnership between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) toward the year 2030 to upgrade cooperation, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said.

Speaking at the 20th China-ASEAN (10+1) leaders' meeting held in the Philippine capital of Manila on Monday, Li said the vision will upgrade the China-ASEAN cooperation framework from 2+7 to 3+X.

The "2+7" refers to a cooperation framework proposed by Li in 2013 at a meeting with ASEAN leaders in Brunei, which emphasizes a two-point political consensus, namely enhancing strategic trust and promoting economic cooperation, and seven cooperation fields including trade facilitation, interconnectivity and security exchanges, among others.

The 3+X, using the letter X in math to represent the unknown, means China-ASEAN will touch many fields while focusing on three pillars -- political security, economy and trade, and people-to-people exchange.

Li said China-ASEAN cooperation will have more global substance and build a new exemplar for South-South cooperation.

It is a consensus of the ASEAN nations that China-ASEAN relationship is the most vibrant and has the richest contents among the relationships ASEAN has with its partners, he said. And China was the first major country outside the bloc to endorse the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, to form a strategic partnership with ASEAN, and to start free trade area talks with it.

China and ASEAN have firmly maintained their relationship in a good neighborly and friendly direction and properly handled sensitive issues through dialogue and consultation so as to always keep bilateral relations on the right track, he said.