Towards a Brighter Future

On Nov. 13， 2017， Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the Philippines and attended the 20th China-ASEAN （10+1） leaders meeting with his colleagues from ASEAN member states in Manila.

Speaking at the meeting， Premier Li said it is a consensus among ASEAN countries that relations with China are the most vibrant and meaningful among the relationships ASEAN has with its partners. “All ASEAN members would agree that among ASEANs many dialogue partnerships， ASEAN plus China stands out as the most vibrant pair with the most substantial cooperation，” he explained. “China was the first to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia， the first to establish strategic partnership with ASEAN， and the first to launch FTA negotiations with ASEAN.”

Premier Li added， “China always puts ASEAN high on its diplomatic agenda in developing ties with its neighbors. As committed good neighbors， good friends and good partners sharing weal and woe， China and ASEAN are working together to build a community of shared future with common ideals， common prosperity and common responsibility.”

In Premier Lis speech， the “2030 Vision for China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership” initiative was put forward by China and received a positive response from the ASEAN side.

New Version， New Future

On Oct. 8， 2003 in Bali， Indonesia， China and ASEAN signed the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity to promote good neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation. Over the past 15 years， China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership has greatly enhanced the social-economic development of the two sides and made significant contributions to regional peace， stability and prosperity. The relationship between the two sides has progressed from a stage of rapid development to one marked by higher quality and greater maturity， thus opening a new chapter in the development of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership.

Premier Li proposed the formulation of a vision for upgrading cooperation within China and ASEANs strategic partnership by 2030. This will serve as a blueprint aimed at ushering in a new period of comprehensive and sustainable development in bilateral relations.

The vision proposed by Premier Li will upgrade the China-ASEAN cooperation framework from 2+7 to 3+X. The “2+7” refers to a cooperation framework first proposed by Premier Li at a meeting with ASEAN leaders in Brunei in 2013， which emphasizes a two-point political consensus focused on enhancing strategic trust and promoting economic cooperation， and highlights seven fields of cooperation including trade facilitation， interconnectivity and security exchanges.

With X representing the unknown， the “3+X” cooperation framework pinpoints three areas of cooperation – political security， economy and trade， and people-to-people exchange – while suggesting areas of future collaboration.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership， and both sides are expected to take this as an opportunity to elevate bilateral relations to a new level.

Guo Yanjun， director of the Institute of Asian Studies at China Foreign Affairs University， said that upgrading the “2+7” to the “3+X” will improve cooperation between China and ASEAN and propel relations over the medium-to-long-term.

Think Tanks in Action

As a guiding document， it is clear that the 2030 Vision should be drafted following the soliciting of opinions from all relevant parties. One such party is the Network of ASEAN-China Think-tanks （NACT）， which has expressed its support for the initiative.

Comprised of major think tanks from China and ASEAN， NACT has played an important role in offering suggestions for promoting the development of China-ASEAN relations. In 2013， to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership， Premier Li Keqiang advocated the establishment of NACT to contribute to the “diamond decade” of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership and to the building of a common China-ASEAN community. The Institute of Asian Studies at the China Foreign Affairs University was designated as the Country Coordinating Institute for NACT China.

After last years ASEAN-China Summit in the Philippines， official working level consultation for the 2030 Vision started soon. According to the schedule， consultations will deliver a final product before the next ASEAN-China Senior Officials Consultation， which are normally held annually every April or May. Given the importance of and time constraints on the initiative， policymakers have urgently demanded a parallel study by NACT on the framework of the 2030 Vision.

Against this backdrop， the NACT Country Coordinators Meeting held on Oct. 4， 2017 in Manila agreed to set up a Special Working Group （SWG） to define the format and content of the 2030 Vision， including the goals of and strategy for the development of ASEAN-China relations.

The SWG members are expected to conduct the following studies：

—Assess the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership over the past 15 years by taking stock of the implementation of existing China-ASEAN cooperation frameworks， mechanisms and programs；

— Define the overall goals and guiding principles of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership in the lead up to 2030；

— Set specific targets in the areas of political and security cooperation， economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and ASEAN which should be reached by 2030 and in turn recommend concrete and practical short-， mid- and long-term measures to deepen and widen future cooperation；

— Develop strategies to ensure that the 2030 Vision will be aligned with the ASEAN Community Vision 2025， the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the three pillars of China-ASEANcooperation.

In January 2018， the SWG members submitted reports and convened a working meeting in Beijing. In his keynote speech， Zhang Yunling， director of the Academic Committee of NACT China， expressed his hope that this meeting would help seek consensus among all parties and lay a solid foundation for the future development of China-ASEAN relations. A reporter from China Report ASEAN attended the meeting and the following excerpts are illustrative of the participants speeches.