Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and other leaders leave the stage after posing for a family photo ahead of the Asean-GCC-China summit, in Kuala Lumpur on May 27. -- Photo: EPA-EFE via THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday urged Asean and Gulf state leaders to increase cooperation with Beijing, his call coming at a time when China is seeking to strengthen global economic ties amid intractable trade tensions with the US.
Addressing the inaugural summit involving China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Li said that the three sides could create a “vibrant economic circle” through deeper exchanges to benefit each nation as well as global development.
“We should firmly grasp this historical opportunity, continuously enrich the power of trilateral cooperation, and strive to create a model of global cooperation and development,” he said in his opening remarks at the event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Li also called for greater regional development and the building of a “large shared market”, where resources, technologies and talent flowed more efficiently and where there was “freer and more convenient trade and investment”.
China, he said, was willing to deepen strategic alignment and strengthen the coordination of macroeconomic policies with Asean and GCC countries on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment.
The six GCC states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while Asean’s 10 members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Li’s trip to the Malaysian capital for the Asean-GCC-China summit comes close on the heels of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Kuala Lumpur during a regional tour last month. Beijing appears to be intensifying its efforts to strengthen Asean ties while there is no sign of trade tensions with the United States easing.
During talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Monday, Li called for deeper bilateral exchanges and trade cooperation, while urging the two countries to safeguard free trade and the global trading system.
China was willing to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen strategic communication and enhance cultural cooperation with Malaysia, Li said.
He also urged the two countries to continue expanding trade and investment cooperation, focusing on areas such as the digital economy, green economy and artificial intelligence, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.
Li also told Anwar that countries attending the three-way summit must strengthen coordination and “uphold open regionalism and true multilateralism” in a world confronted with rising unilateralism and protectionism.
“China is ready to work closely with Malaysia to take the event as an opportunity to push for closer economic cooperation among the three sides, build a model of global cooperation and development, jointly safeguard free trade and the multilateral trading system, and address global challenges together, so as to contribute greater stability, certainty and positive energy to a turbulent world,” he said.
Observers said the back-to-back visits by China’s top two leaders underscored Malaysia’s strategic significance as Asean’s rotating chair this year, as well as the bloc’s broader importance to China amid the tariff war unleashed by US President Donald Trump.
During his tour of Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia in April, Xi positioned China as a stable partner, advocating for stronger cooperation to resist “unilateral bullying” by the US and to “safeguard our shared Asian home”.
Ties between China and Malaysia were ushering in “a new golden era”, Xi said during a meeting with Anwar, who has visited China three times since taking office in November 2022.
Unlike the Philippines and Vietnam, each of which has competing territorial claims with Beijing in the South China Sea, Malaysia under Anwar has edged closer to China, prioritising economic cooperation while downplaying maritime disputes.
China has remained Malaysia’s largest trading partner for the past 15 years, while China and Asean continue to be each other’s top trade partners.
Despite a 90-day tariff truce agreed by China and the US after talks in Geneva earlier this month, Asean members have been left facing an increasingly delicate balancing act between the world’s two largest economies – with Beijing warning trade partners against making deals with the US at China’s expense.
Anwar described the gathering with China and the GCC as an opportunity to foster new cooperation that could help insulate Asean’s economy from external shocks. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
