Global Times: China, ASEAN, GCC seek enhanced inter-regional cooperation

BEIJING, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday called on China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to jointly forge an example in openness, development cooperation and cross-civilization integration, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

He made the remarks when addressing the inaugural ASEAN-China-GCC summit held in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.

Li called on the three sides to create a model of cross-region openness, noting that the population and economic aggregate of China as well as countries of the ASEAN and the GCC account for approximately one quarter of the world's total, according to Xinhua.

China and the ASEAN have fully completed the negotiations on the upgrade of the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, Li noted, adding that it is expected that an early completion of talks on the free trade area agreement between the GCC and various parties can be done so as to elevate trilateral trade levels.

He urged the three sides to unswervingly expand regional opening-up, and build the related regions into a large shared market where resources, technologies and talents flow more efficiently, and trade and investment enjoy greater freedom and convenience, so as to fully unleash the powerful effect of open development, per Xinhua.

China, he said, is ready to deepen strategic alignment with the ASEAN and the GCC on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment, enhance coordination of macroeconomic policies and strengthen collaboration in industrial specialization.

"We should strive to turn our own strengths into those of everyone, and at the same time help each other tackle new challenges emerging in development, create new ways of international industrial economic cooperation, and promote a coordinated development in which their abilities can be fully explored, and benefits can be doubled and shared," he said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in his opening remarks, said the inaugural summit would open up a new chapter of dialogue and cooperation, per The Washington Post.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the GCC and China collectively boast a combined GDP of nearly $25 billion and a market of over two billion people, offering vast opportunities to synergize their markets and promote cross-regional investment, Anwar said. "I am confident that ASEAN, the GCC and China can draw upon our unique attributes and shape a future that is more connected, more resilient, and more prosperous," he noted, the report said.

Addressing the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur on May 27, according to the VNA, Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the country pledges to uphold its role as a reliable bridge and responsible partner, ready to accompany and contribute to peace, stability, and shared prosperity for all people and nations of ASEAN, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and China.

He proposed establishing a robust financial connectivity network among major centers such as Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Shanghai, Dubai, and Riyadh to create a seamless inter-regional financial ecosystem, which he said will propel ASEAN-GCC-China cooperation to new heights.

ASEAN and GCC leaders attending the summit spoke highly of the important role stronger trilateral cooperation plays in advancing their respective development and promoting regional peace and prosperity, according to Xinhua.

They said that the summit has opened a new chapter for the three sides to jointly address challenges and pursue development.

The leaders pledged to further deepen Belt and Road cooperation, enhance cooperation in such areas as connectivity, economy and trade, industrial and supply chains, agriculture, energy, finance and the digital economy.

They also pledged to strengthen mutual learning among civilizations, carry out closer multilateral cooperation, and advance trilateral integration for strong, inclusive, and sustainable development, contributing to the building of a community with a shared future.

The meeting adopted the joint statement of the ASEAN-China-GCC Summit.

Unity vs isolationism

The inaugural trilateral summit "marks a new chapter of strategic cooperation," said the Malaysian Prime Minister. He also highlighted the GCC's remarkable transformation, describing it as "the most peaceful and fastest-growing economy in the world," driven by new technology and artificial intelligence, per the report.

"This is a meeting of minds, people who want to develop their countries, who believe in independence, in rights, in democracy and who want to enhance trade, increase investments," he said, according to Malaymail.

With substantial shares of global GDP and population, the three parties of the summit represent major Global South stakeholders and can align positions to reform international trade rules and amplify developing nations' voice on the global stage, Chen added.

"China, as well as ASEAN and GCC countries, all share common aspirations in development and global challenges. It therefore makes good sense for us to work more closely than before in multiple sectors," Bunn Nagara, director and senior fellow at the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia-Pacific, an independent think tank based in Kuala Lumpur, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Energy, food security and supply chain resilience offer the greatest potential for trilateral cooperation, Nagara said. The GCC leads in oil and gas, China in renewables and electric vehicles, and ASEAN is a key consumer market and production hub.

Cross-civilization integration

According to Xinhua, during the summit, the Chinese premier urged the three sides to create a model of cross-civilization integration, noting that the three sides are home to vibrant civilizations and share Asian values of peace, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness.

He called for deeper cultural and people-to-people exchanges and a stronger foundation of mutual trust, and called on the three sides to effectively manage differences through mutual understanding, foster mutually beneficial cooperation through the exchange of ideas and explore a new path for the inclusive advancement of diverse civilizations.

The Chinese side, he said, actively supports the initiative of Confucian-Islamic civilizational dialogue proposed by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, per Xinhua.

China is ready to work with the ASEAN and the GCC to implement the Global Civilization Initiative, promote mutual learning among civilizations and build greater consensus and momentum for peace and development, Li added.

Premier Li on Tuesday met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on the sidelines of the trilateral summit. Li said that China is ready to work with Cambodia to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation to further expand economic and trade cooperation, according to Xinhua.

China is willing to work with Cambodia to accelerate the synergy between high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and Cambodia's Pentagonal Strategy, speed up the implementation of the cooperation plans for the Industrial Development Corridor and the Fish and Rice Corridor, and create more new highlights of cooperation and foster new areas for growth, Li noted.

On Monday, Li met with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, during which he said China is ready to work with Malaysia to deepen exchanges and collaboration across various fields, and jointly usher in a new "Golden 50 Years" for bilateral ties guided by the principles of mutual respect and trust, equality and mutual benefit for win-win outcomes.

After the meeting, Anwar said in in a post on X that Malaysia, as ASEAN chair 2025, truly appreciates China's strong commitment to enhancing regional collaboration in the years ahead, The Edge Malaysia reported.

"On the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit 2025, I met with China's Premier Li Qiang, where we discussed efforts to enhance strategic cooperation, particularly through the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur. "We focused on key areas like the economy, the halal industry, trade, transportation (especially the East Coast Rail Link), green energy, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies," Anwar said in a post on X.

The prime minister said he had also expressed gratitude to China for its support for Malaysia's modernization efforts, highlighting the solidarity of the Global South, per The Edge Malaysia report.

Earlier on Monday, Li met with Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, crown prince of Kuwait, as he said that China is ready to join Kuwait in continuing to push for the steady development of bilateral ties.

SOURCE Global Times