Faced with evolving cross-border crime dynamics, China and countries in Southeast Asia should enhance communication and cooperation to ensure regional prosperity and stability, experts said.

They made the remarks at the 7th China-ASEAN Legal Cooperation Forum in Southwest China's Chongqing on Friday.

The three-day event, hosted by China Law Society between Thursday and Saturday, brought together legal experts from China, ASEAN countries, and international organizations to deepen legal exchanges and cooperation.

China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for five consecutive years.

At the opening ceremony, Borwornsak Uwanno, deputy prime minister of Thailand, emphasized that strengthening legal cooperation is fundamental to regional stability.

"In the context of geopolitical competition and complex cross-border issues, law plays an increasingly prominent role in maintaining stability," he said.

He urged China and ASEAN member states to enhance exchanges among legal institutions, judicial departments, and legal experts to reduce misunderstandings, foster understanding, and establish common norms conducive to long-term stability.

One of the pressing issues for the legal sectors of China as well as ASEAN countries is cross-border crimes such as online gambling, telecom fraud, and drug production and trafficking.

"Recent transnational crimes are no longer limited to traditional forms such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism. New forms, including high-tech crimes, digital financial crimes, and environmental crimes, have emerged and proliferate rapidly through digital borders and e-commerce. These developments pose significant challenges for governments and require existing intra-ASEAN and extra-ASEAN cooperation mechanisms to adapt promptly," said Nguyen Quynh Anh, a senior lecturer of Hanoi Law University of Vietnam, in her keynote speech at the Forum on Governance of Cross-border Crimes, one of the sub-forums at the event.

She sought for improvements to the joint legal framework, enhancing joint training, developing data sharing platforms, and focusing on joint investigation and legal assistance to bolster regional security resilience.

Cheng Lei, deputy dean of the Law School of Renmin University of China in Beijing, highlighted the importance of clarifying principles and rules for the application of cross-border evidence to improve foreign-related procedural legislation.

He suggested that related countries should strengthen the procedure of recovery of stolen property and the rules of cross-border evidence collection; incorporate the relevant provisions of international criminal judicial assistance into the newly added section of special procedures involving foreign countries, and clarify the mechanism of connection with the International Criminal Judicial Assistance Law.