On March 13, 2024, Ambassador Hou Yanqi paid a courtesy call on the newly appointed Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Political-Security Community H.E. Dato' Astanah Abdul Aziz. They exchanged views on the ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership and East Asia regional cooperation.
Ambassador Hou elaborated comprehensively the spirits of the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs and the outcomes of 2024 Two Sessions. She emphasized that China’s external work will follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy as the fundamental guideline and focus on the theme of building a community with a shared future for mankind. China will continue to promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, actively implement the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), and promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
Ambassador Hou mentioned that, China overcame an array of difficulties and challenges and realized a 5.2% gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2023 on a year-on-year basis. China remained the largest engine of global economic growth and its economic growth contributed 32% to the global economic growth, which fully demonstrated the resilience and vitality of China's economy. In 2024, China will give the prevailing priority to high-quality development, actively develop new quality productive forces, and pursue higher-standard opening up. While pursuing its own development, China will make the global economic development pie bigger, and provide more opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation to ASEAN and the world.
Ambassador Hou introduced the achievements of China-ASEAN relations over the past 33 years and China's proposals for promoting regional cooperation in 2024. She emphasized that China and ASEAN are neighbors that cannot be removed and partners that cannot be separated. China-ASEAN relations have become the most successful and vibrant model for regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific.
Facing the future, China will continue to give priority to ASEAN in its neighborhood diplomacy. China will work with ASEAN to actively build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future and peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home together by jointly implementing GDI, GSI and GCI and through high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. China will further enhance political mutual trust with ASEAN. China will further deepen economic, trade and investment cooperation, accelerate ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 3.0 negotiations, and expand cooperation in emerging areas such as the digital economy, green economy, blue economy. China will strengthen people-to-people exchange and cultural affinity by carrying out more events in "ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchanges", which will consolidate the foundation of China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership. With all the initiatives above, China and ASEAN will better safeguard regional peace, stability, development and prosperity.
Deputy Secretary-General Astana spoke highly of China's development achievements and hoped that China's high-quality development could continue to inject impetus into the common prosperity of the region and the world. She appreciated that China is ASEAN's most active dialogue partner and ASEAN-China relations play a leading role in regional cooperation. The practical cooperation between ASEAN and China during the past more than 30 years has benefited not only each other's development, but also all countries in the region. ASEAN Secretariat welcomed China's initiatives on regional cooperation and looked forward to maintaining close communication with the Chinese side, deepening cooperation in various fields, and jointly promoting the relationship between ASEAN and China.
After the meeting, Ambassador Hou presented Deputy Secretary-General Astana with the English version of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China".
