ASEAN CHINA RELATIONS

20^TH ANNIVERSARY OF ASEAN-CHINA

DIALOGUE RELATIONS

~ ASEAN-China: Mutually Beneficial and Win-Win Partners ~

OVERVIEW

The year 2011 marks the 20^th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relationship. ASEAN-China dialogue relation started when H.E. Qian Qichen, the Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China attended the opening session of the 24^th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in July 1991 in Kuala Lumpur as a guest of the Malaysian Government. China was accorded full Dialogue Partner status at the 29^th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in July 1996 in Jakarta. Since then, ASEAN-China cooperation has augment significantly be it in politic, social or economy for mutual benefit.

China was the first dialogue partner of ASEAN to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia at the 7^th ASEAN-China Summit in October 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. China also accedes to the Protocol of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ).

In line with the theme for this year “ASEAN-China: Mutually Beneficial and Win-Win Partners,” ASEAN and China will be implementing a series of activities to promote good-neighbourly relations, deepen cooperation and consolidate people-to-people friendship.

AREAS OF COOPERATION

ASEAN and China had agreed to cooperate on eleven priority areas of cooperation namely:

1. Agriculture
2. Information And Communication Technology (ICT)
3. Human Resource Development
4. Mekong Basin Development
5. Investment
6. Energy
7. Transport
8. Culture
9. Public Health
10. Tourism
11. Environment

  

MEETING AND CONFERENCE

ASEAN-China relation enhanced through regular dialogues and consultations such as:

• ASEAN-China Summit
• ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting
• ASEAN-China Senior Officials Consultations, and
• Other related meetings on bilateral, regional and global issues of common interest and concerns

ASEAN-CHINA FIELD OF COOPERATION

Political and Security Cooperation

1. ASEAN-China Joint Working Group on the implementation of the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea (2002).

ASEAN and China have established ASEAN-China Joint Working Group on the Implementation of the DOC in May 2006. The meeting is a platform for consultation/discussion in order to fully and effectively implement the DOC to further contribute to peace, stability and cooperation in the region. ASEAN and China leaders reaffirmed their commitment to implement DOC on the 4^th ASEAN-China Joint Working Group that was held in April 2010 in Ha Noi, Vietnam. The meeting was marked as the resumption of the formal discussion that has been deferred since May 2006.

2. MOU for Cooperation in Non-traditional Security Issues.

The first Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in 2004. The renewal five year’s MOU (2010-2014) was signed in November 2009 in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

3. ASEAN-China Cooperative Operations in Response to Dangerous Drugs (ACCORD).

ACCORD was established in 2001 in Bali, Indonesia as a response and joint effort to eliminate the threat of illicit drugs. There are four main activities under ACCORD namely:

·       Promoting civic awareness and social responses on the dangers of drugs,

·       Reducing illicit consumption of drugs by building consensus and sharing best practices in demand reduction,

·       Strengthening the rule of law by an enhanced network of control measures, and

·       Improving cooperation in law enforcement and legislative review.

Economic Cooperation

1. ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA)

ASEAN and China signed a Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation in November 2002 to establish the ACFTA. Three agreements were signed prior to the realisation of ACFTA.

·       Agreement on Trade in Goods & Dispute Settlement Mechanism – Signed in 2004 and implemented since July 2005.

·       Agreement on Trade in Services – Signed and implemented in 2007

·       ASEAN-China Investment Agreement – Signed in 2009

ASEAN-6 (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) and China implemented ACFTA on 1 January 2010. The ACFTA will be fully implemented by other ASEAN countries by 1 Januari 2015.

2. ASEAN-China Expo (CAEXPO)

CAEXPO was organised annually in Nanning, China since 2004 to showcased products from ASEAN and China. ASEAN-China Business and Investment Summit held sideline with the Expo. The event is a platform for governments and private sectors to meet and exchange views.

3. ASEAN-China Investment Cooperation Fund

The Fund is mean to finance major ASEAN-China investment cooperation projects with focus on infrastructure and connectivity particularly in transport infrastructure and projects relevant to people’s livelihood, narrowing the development gap in the region and enhance connectivity within ASEAN and between ASEAN and China.

4. ASEAN-China cooperation in transportation

Areas of cooperation in transportation namely transport infrastructure construction, transport facilitation, maritime safety and security, air transport, human resources development and information exchange. The cooperation in transportation has increased the number of tourist from China to ASEAN and vise versa. China also pledged to realise two-way tourist arrivals to 15 million by 2015.

5. ASEAN-China ICT Cooperative Partnership for Common Development (2007-2012)

The declaration on ICT was achieved in Beijing in 2007. The agreement provides a good direction and commitment for wide ranging cooperation in ICT. Among project in ICT is a Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Information Superhighway Project which will serve as an important foundation for ASEAN-China Information Superhighway Project.

Functional Cooperation

1. Cultural Cooperation

Both parties have signed MOU on Cultural Cooperation in 2005 to promote exchanges and cooperation in the field of culture, both tangible and intangible in accordance with their respective domestic laws, regulation, policies, administrative guidelines and procedures.

2. Information and Media Cooperation

The MOU on this field was signed in 2008. It is aimed at enhancing and promoting cooperation and exchanges in information and media through human resources development, media exchanges and co-productions as well as establishes an ASEAN-China Information and Media Network.

3. Public Health Cooperation

Cooperation in public health is deepening to areas such as traditional medicine, prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases, health policy development with specific focus on primary health care, maternal and child health, and HIV and AIDS. ASEAN Risk Communication Resource Centre was also established through this cooperation.

4. Environmental Cooperation

ASEAN-China Environmental Protection Strategy 2009-2015 was adopted and served as a cooperation direction. The environmental cooperation including areas in public awareness and environmental education, environment sound technologies, biodiversity conservation, disaster reduction and relief, green technology and many more.