Virus response has only strengthened China's links to ASEAN, experts say

Economic and cultural exchanges between China and Southeast Asia's regional grouping are expected to grow even stronger after the cooperation shown in efforts against the coronavirus pandemic, experts say.

The economies of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are ripe for business opportunities that provide Chinese companies a platform to cooperate with local firms and jointly exploit the global market, said Xu Ningning, executive president of the China-ASEAN Business Council."The cooperation between China and the 10 ASEAN nations is of great importance."

Their cooperation stands to not only benefit the 11 countries involved but also promotes the stability and prosperity of the entire region, its role in global economic growth and the building of a new type of international relations, said Xu.

Xu, noting that 2020 is the last year of the Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity (2016-20), said he expects the fourth action plan (2021-25) to be built on the achievements made by the two sides.

Cooperation between China and the individual ASEAN countries will be important in supporting the development of the China-ASEAN strategic partnership, he added.

On Thursday, the regional bloc opened its 37th summit under the chairmanship of Vietnam via video conference. The focus in on the recovery from COVID-19 and the role of the bloc in the post-pandemic world.

In the opening ceremony, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong said that all ASEAN countries have shown courage and determination to overcome the difficulties encountered in 2020.

Trong stressed that in the new context, regional dialogue and cooperation frameworks with ASEAN are playing a central role and need to be well promoted.

Global supply chains

While the pandemic has disrupted global supply chains, China-ASEAN trade relations "are being further boosted by great efforts from two sides", said Vo Tri Thanh, former deputy head of Vietnam's Central Institute for Economic Management.

Vietnam, which has won praise for its efforts in controlling the coronavirus, is among those ASEAN countries that are especially attractive to Chinese businesses.

Gu Chaoqing, chairman of the Business Association of China in Vietnam, said Chinese companies are expanding industrial cooperation with Vietnamese partners. They are bringing more direct investment to Vietnam, making contributions to promote bilateral trade, economic cooperation and the economic development of both countries.

"Since both China and Vietnam have effectively put the COVID-19 pandemic under control, the bilateral trade volume has seen a continuous growth since the beginning of this year," said Gu.

As the two countries achieve economic recovery, he said they should make full use of their respective strengths, and promote mutual development as well as cooperation in trade, economic matters and in industrial supply chains.

"This will help provide support from an industrial chain perspective to the recovery and development of the global economy," he said.

In the first 10 months of 2020, trade between China and Vietnam reached nearly $150 billion, up 16.2 percent year-on-year, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

"The China-Vietnam trade cooperation is resilient," said Gu. Noting that their bilateral trade exceeded $160 billion last year, he said that figure is expected to increase in 2020.

Do Thanh Van, head of the Confucius Institute at Hanoi University, said many people in Vietnam are interested in learning Chinese, which will allow them to understand China in a deeper and more comprehensive way. "This is conducive to supporting the exchanges and cooperation in other sectors such as technology and culture," Van said.

The institute, the only Confucius Institute in Vietnam, will highlight hybrid courses that combine Chinese-language education and vocational training to help improve career prospects for Vietnamese students. Van said these initiatives are in line with the rapid economic development of Vietnam.

Xinhua contributed to this story.