On August 18, the China-ASEAN Media Salon was held at the Chinese Mission to ASEAN. Over 20 journalists from regional and international media, including those from China and Indonesia, were present. Ambassador Hou Yanqi briefed and exchanged views with them the progress of China-ASEAN cooperation in various fields so far this year and the expectations for the upcoming leaders’ meetings on East Asia Cooperation.
Ambassador Hou said that the leaders’ meetings on East Asia Cooperation, which will be held in Jakarta in early September, has attracted great attention from all sides, and the preparatory work has entered the countdown. China supports Indonesia, as the rotating chair of ASEAN, in advancing the priority agenda under the theme of "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth", and expects the meetings to focus on dialogue and cooperation, promote development and prosperity, so as to inject more stability and certainty into this turbulent world. As a comprehensive strategic partner of ASEAN, China has made every effort to promote the implementation of President Xi Jinping's proposal of jointly building a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home, support Indonesia’s chairmanship, support ASEAN Centrality and Community building, actively seek synergy with ASEAN’s key agendas, push for the sustainable recovery of the region, and promote new developments in China-ASEAN relations.
Ambassador Hou gave a comprehensive introduction of China's support for ASEAN's community building in the three pillars of APSC, AEC and ASCC. She expressed that the political mutual trust between China and ASEAN has been continuously deepened with frequent high-level exchanges. China and ASEAN organized grand commemorative activities to mark the 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the TAC (The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia), in order to continue to jointly uphold and promote the TAC spirit, safeguard lasting peace in the region. China and ASEAN are strong partners in building the region into an epicentrum of growth, and have jointly promoted regional integration. Since the beginning of this year, both sides have delivered good outcomes, achieving remarkable economic performance in the first half of the year, with trade and investment continuing to maintain growth momentum, and cooperation in the fields of new energy, digital economy, and science and technology innovation on the rise. China has vigorously promoted exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN in education, science and technology, culture, youth, poverty reduction, tourism and other people-to-people and cultural exchange areas, with rapid restoring of people-to-people exchanges, accelerated recovery of the tourism industry, and highly motivated local participation. Ambassador Hou also introduced the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Global Civilization Initiative (GSI) proposed by President Xi Jinping, stressing China's willingness to work with ASEAN countries to building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.
Ambassador Hou also responded to journalists' questions on the mutually beneficial cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), as well as the internal and external challenges facing the region, and the South China Sea issue.
