Chairman's Statement of the 19th ASEAN-China Summit to Commemorate the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations

7 September 2016, Vientiane, Lao PDR

Turning Vision into Reality for a Dynamic ASEAN Community

The 19th ASEAN-China Summit to Commemorate the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN- China Dialogue Relations was held on 7 September 2016 in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The Summit was chaired by H.E. Thongloun SISOULITH, Prime Minister of the Lao DPR. The Summit was attended by all Heads of State/Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and H.E. Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The Secretary- General of ASEAN was also in attendance.

2. We acknowledged that ASEAN-China relations are among the most substantial and dynamic, bringing mutual benefit and contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region. In this context, the ASEAN Leaders appreciated China's commitment to support ASEAN Community-building toward the realization of the visions and goals set forth in the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 as well as China's continued support for ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture through ASEAN-led processes, namely the ASEAN Plus Three, the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

3. We welcomed the significant progress of ASEAN-China cooperation made over the past twenty -five years and welcomed the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations and appreciated the series of commemorative activities held by the two sides to jointly celebrate the auspicious occasion. We adopted the Joint Statement of the 19th ASEAN-China Summit to Commemorate the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations which reaffirms our collective commitment in further strengthening the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership. We welcomed the significant progress achieved in the implementation of the Plan of Action to implement the Joint Declaration on ASEAN- China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity for the period 2016-2020 which would further strengthen the deep and broad-based cooperation for closer ASEAN- China relations.

4. The ASEAN Leaders noted China's initiatives such as the "Belt and Road" and the 2+7 Cooperation Framework for further enhancing ASEAN-China relations, and looked forward to working closely with China to enhance cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual respect, benefit and consensus.

5. We reaffirmed our commitment to enhancing cooperation in the field of non- traditional security issues such as combating terrorism and extremism; illicit drug trafficking; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; trafficking in persons and cybercrime. The ASEAN Leaders also noted China's continued support in enhancing law enforcement cooperation through various initiatives and activities.

6. We expressed our commitment to strengthening security and defence cooperation through existing frameworks and mechanisms such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus).

7. We were pleased to note that ASEAN-China economic relations have maintained their strong momentum. China continued to be ASEAN's largest trading partner, with total bilateral trade at USD 346.4 billion in 2015. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows from China to ASEAN amounted to USD 8.2 billion in 2015, positioning China as ASEAN's fourth largest source of FDI.

8. We welcomed the entry into force of the Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Certain Agreements thereunder between ASEAN and China, for China and Viet Nam on 1 July 2016. We looked forward to the concrete outcomes of the negotiations on the Future Work Programme of the Protocol to contribute to the efforts in achieving the twin goals of two-way trade and investment of USD 1 trillion and USD 150 billion respectively by 2020.

9. We noted the intensification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. Noting the immense potential of the RCEP to foster global and regional trade and growth, we urged our experts to redouble efforts toward achieving a modern, comprehensive, high-quality and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement.

10. We are pleased to adopt Joint Statement between ASEAN and China on Production Capacity Cooperation and convinced that it will provide opportunities to further strengthen economic and trade relations, including competitiveness of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the supply chains, which will further boost confidence and engagement of businesses from ASEAN Member States and China.

11. We take note of the upcoming 5th ASEAN China Ministerial Meeting on Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Cooperation which will be held on 10 September 2016 in Nanning, China. We wished the meeting could come up with recommendations to implement the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Governments of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Government of the People's Republic of China on Strengthening Sanitary and Phytosanitary Cooperation to further realize the application of SPS measures so as to enhance the export and import of agriculture products between the two sides.

12. We noted with appreciation the continuing efforts to sustain the various initiatives identified in the China-ASEAN Science and Technology Partnership Program (STEP) that was launched in 2012. We recognized the contribution of the China-ASEAN Technology Transfer Center in facilitating information sharing, resource matchmaking and other related services to encourage collaboration between ASEAN and Chinese enterprises and science parks. We look forward to the successful conduct of the 4th Forum on China-ASEAN Technology Transfer and Collaborative Innovation during the 13th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) which will be held on 11-14 September 2016 in Nanning, Guangxi, China.

13. The ASEAN Leaders appreciated China's continued support for enhancing connectivity within ASEAN and the region, through supporting the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025. We looked forward to the active involvement and contribution of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in promoting enhanced ASEAN and regional connectivity. We were further determined to maximise the utilisation of existing mechanism and committed resources as well as to explore cooperation to enhance connectivity between ASEAN and China.

14. We reiterated our commitment to further intensify cooperation in narrowing the development gap between and among ASEAN Member States. In this connection, we welcomed the successful convening of the 1st Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders' Meeting in Sanya, China, on 23 March 2016. The ASEAN Leaders' looked forward to China's support towards the implementation of the IAI Work Plan III (2016-2020).

15. We welcomed the successful convening of the 9th ASEAN-China Education Cooperation Week and the 2nd China-ASEAN Education Ministers Roundtable Meeting to commemorate the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations and as part of the ASEAN-China Year of Educational Exchange on 2 August 2016.

16. We noted that the endorsed Plan of Action of the ASEAN-China Memorandum of Understanding on Health Cooperation would complement the implementation of ASEAN Post 2015 Health Development Agenda for 2016 to 2020. Priority areas of collaboration included cooperation on prevention and control of communicable diseases; public health emergency response mechanism and capacity for mitigating health impacts of natural disasters; prevention and control of non-communicable diseases; human resource development for health; and, traditional medicine development.

17. We agreed to strengthen practical cooperation on disaster management, which includes emergency preparedness, risk reduction, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation, while taking into account the existing ASEAN agreements and mechanisms. We encouraged China's support for the realisation of the ASEAN Declaration on One ASEAN, One Response: ASEAN Responding to Disaster as One in the region and outside the region.

18. We also agreed to strengthen practical cooperation on environmental protection, climate change, health, sustainable natural resource management, and improve access to clean air, water and sanitation, while taking into account the existing ASEAN agreements and mechanisms. In this regard, we welcomed the adoption of the ASEAN-China Strategy on Environmental Cooperation (2016-2020) and looked forward to the ASEAN-China Environmental Cooperation Action Plan (2016-2020) to be formulated on this basis to push forward practical cooperation in relevant fields.

19. We acknowledged the role of the ASEAN-China Centre in facilitating trade, investment, tourism, education and cultural exchange between ASEAN and China. In this connection, we looked forward to the conclusion of the revised MOU on the establishment of the ASEAN-China Centre.

20. We underlined the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation in, and overflight above, the South China Sea. We welcomed the recent adoption of the Joint Statement by the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN Member States and China on the Full and Effective Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) We stressed the importance of the full and effective implementation of the DOC in its entirety.

21. We adopted the Joint Statement on the Application of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) in the South China Sea, and the Guidelines for Hotline Communications among Senior Officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of ASEAN Member States and China in Response to Maritime Emergencies in the Implementation of the DOC. We welcomed the elements of completing the implementation of Early Harvest Measures by the end of 2016, finishing the consultation on the COC outline in the first half 2017 under circumstances without disturbances and fast tracking COC consultations as contained in China's proposed Four Visions on the Code of Conduct (COC) consultations.

22. We welcomed the designation of 2017 as the ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation and looked forward to enhance cooperation and activities with a view to boosting two-way tourist visits and promoting greater people-to-people exchanges between ASEAN and China.