From the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN in 1991 to the "Year of Establishment" in 2021, China-ASEAN relations have achieved leapfrog development and been officially upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership. This journey is not only a milestone in bilateral cooperation, but also provides a "China-ASEAN paradigm" for regional governance.

Political Mutual Trust: From Dialogue Partners to Strategic Support

Over the past 30 years, the political mutual trust between China and ASEAN has continued to deepen. From the establishment of the Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity to the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the two sides have successfully resolved potential conflicts such as disputes in the South China Sea through institutionalized dialogue and crisis management mechanisms, setting an example of countries large and small treating each other as equals. In 2021, President Xi Jinping put forward the "Five Homelands" initiative, which further consolidated the foundation of strategic mutual trust between the two sides.

Economic integration: from the development of trade exchanges to the synergy of the industrial chain

China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation has achieved exponential growth: bilateral trade volume has jumped from US$8 billion in 1991 to nearly US$1 trillion in 2023, and China has been each other's largest trading partner for many years. After the RCEP came into effect, the two sides have accelerated the docking in emerging fields such as the digital economy and green energy, and flagship projects such as the China-Laos Railway and the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway have promoted regional connectivity to enter a new stage of "three-dimensional land, sea and air". This deep integration has made ASEAN an important fulcrum for China to build a new development pattern of "dual circulation".

People-to-people bonds: from official exchanges to people-to-people bonds

Cooperation in education, tourism, culture and other fields has yielded fruitful results: the number of students on exchange has exceeded 200,000, China has become the largest source of tourists in ASEAN, and brand activities such as "Happy New Year" have been widely welcomed in Southeast Asia. During the pandemic, China provided more than 600 million doses of vaccines to ASEAN countries, writing a vivid chapter of "heart-to-heart communication". This "soft connection" of people-to-people exchanges has injected lasting vitality into the building of regional communities.

The 2024 Central Conference on Peripheral Affairs positions ASEAN as a "priority direction for neighborhood diplomacy", highlighting its central position in China's strategic layout. Standing at a new historical starting point, ASEAN-China relations are leading the building of a regional community with a shared future and injecting stability and certainty into the turbulent and changing world with a mature posture of "standing in the 30th century".(This article is from the official website of Seetao www.seetao.com. Reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited. Please indicate Seetao.com + original link when reprinting) Seetao.com Strategy Column Editor/Sun Fengjuan