WE, the Heads of State/Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People’s Republic of China, on the occasion of the 22nd ASEAN-China Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on 3 November 2019;
RECALLING the commitment to broaden and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation to further strengthen the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership as envisaged in the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership Vision 2030 on 14 November 2018, Joint Statement of the 19th ASEAN-China Summit to Commemorate the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations on 7 September 2016, Joint Statement between ASEAN and China on Further Deepening the Cooperation on Infrastructure Connectivity and Joint Statement on Production Capacity Cooperation on 13 November 2017;
REAFFIRMING the commitment of China to support ASEAN’s efforts in realising the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together, while maintaining ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture;
RECOGNISING that synergies between MPAC 2025 and the BRI will contribute towards regional connectivity, peace and stability, economic prosperity and sustainable development and welcoming the joint efforts to promote closer ASEAN-China cooperation, and noting with appreciation China’s vision to build an ASEAN-China community with a shared future;
NOTING the five strategic objectives of MPAC 2025, namely: Sustainable Infrastructure, Digital innovation, Seamless Logistics, Regulatory Excellence and People Mobility, and the five major cooperation priorities of the BRI, namely: Policy Coordination, Connectivity of Infrastructure, Unimpeded Trade, Financial Integration and Closer People-to-People Ties;
ACKNOWLEDGING the importance to improve connectivity between ASEAN and China by synergising common priorities in the MPAC 2025 and BRI, as part of efforts to synergise the various connectivity strategies in the region in a manner that would be mutually beneficial;
ACKNOWLEDGING the common priorities in the MPAC 2025 and the Joint Communiqu? of the Leaders’ Roundtable of the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation issued in Beijing on 27 April 2019, and further acknowledging that all ASEAN Member States and China have signed bilateral agreements on Belt and Road Initiative cooperation and appreciating the progress already made as well as cooperation opportunities created by synergising MPAC 2025 and BRI;
REAFFIRMING the commitment of ASEAN and China in synergising MPAC 2025 and BRI and enhancing regional connectivity, while noting the principles of openness, transparency, inclusiveness and ASEAN Centrality presented in the ASEAN regional initiative, ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific, which puts Connecting the Connectivities as a priority area of cooperation;
APPRECIATING the efforts to foster mutually beneficial and quality cooperation between MPAC 2025 and the BRI, for the goal of high-standard, people-oriented, people-centered and sustainable development; while noting BRI’s spirit of promoting peace and cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, equality, mutual learning and mutual benefit, its principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and concepts of open, green and clean cooperation.
1. Welcome the launch of the Initial Rolling Priority Pipeline of ASEAN Infrastructure Projects under MPAC 2025, which identifies economically viable connectivity-related infrastructure projects in ASEAN Member States, to complement and strengthen the existing economic and transport corridors by enhancing connectivity and mobilising investments, and encourage China to actively support the development and financing of ASEAN infrastructure projects and promote connectivity cooperation in areas such as railways, highways, port and harbours, airports, power and communication, for building better business and investment environment;
2. Promote innovative infrastructure financing in ASEAN through the mobilisation of private capital. Encourage financial institutions, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank Group, and funds such as the Silk Road Fund to better mobilise private capital and enhance capacity building to support infrastructure development through diversified and sustainable financing in the region;
3. Enhance bilateral trade and investment through the implementation of the Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Certain Agreements thereunder between ASEAN and China and to further explore other areas of cooperation of mutual interest, including production capacity cooperation;
4. Reaffirm our strong commitment to uphold a rules-based, open, transparent, non-discriminatory, and inclusive multilateral trading system as embodied in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and stand firm against growing protectionist and anti-globalisation sentiments;
5. Further reaffirm our strong commitment to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations by 2019 and work together to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high quality and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement;
6. Leverage on the opportunities brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and expand cooperation in relevant areas including innovation, smart city development, digital economy, digital supply chain and work force, artificial intelligence, big data, internet of things (IoT), information and communication technologies, e-commerce and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs);
7. Support the ASEAN Smart Cities Network, particularly in addressing challenges of rapid urbanisation, and welcome the designation of 2020 as the ASEAN-China Year of Digital Economy Cooperation;
8. Strengthen people-to-people connectivity by supporting cooperation in areas such as education, youth, tourism, human resource and technical cooperation, media, think tanks and local governments, including building the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship (ACYLS) as a flagship project, and cooperation on improving people’s livelihood;
9. Strengthen policy dialogues through relevant ASEAN-China mechanisms to foster mutual understanding and closer cooperation on connectivity between ASEAN and China;
10. Support the Connecting the Connectivities Initiative and note the continued strengthening of connectivity cooperation under existing sub-regional cooperation mechanisms that can help narrow the development gap in the region, such as the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC), the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) and the ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation (AMBDC), the Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), and the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA); and
11. Implement cooperation through relevant bilateral and multilateral platforms, including meetings between the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC) and Chinese Working Committee of the China-ASEAN Connectivity Cooperation Committee (CWC-CACCC), in enhancing collaboration on connectivity initiatives and projects that would facilitate implementation of and enhance synergies between the MPAC 2025 and BRI.
ADOPTED in Bangkok, Thailand, on the Third of November in the Year Two Thousand and Nineteen.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs