Chinese Premier Li Keqiang poses for a group photo with leaders attending the ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN Plus Three or APT) Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov 12, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Since the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea formed the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation mechanism 25 years ago, it has benefited the whole of East Asia and the world.
Thanks to overall peace and stability in the region, the APT cooperation has made rapid and sustained progress, upheld regional financial and food security, and helped ensure the stability and smooth operation of industry and supply chains.
All participating parties have stood together through thick and thin to tackle major risks and challenges such as the financial crisis and public health risks. In the process, they have forged cooperation mechanisms such as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization and the APT Rice Emergency Reserve, injecting fresh impetus into the stable development of East Asia.
That's why, in the face of the complicated and volatile international situation, Premier Li Keqiang called on the APT countries to reaffirm their commitment to safeguarding peace and stability in the region and promoting shared development and prosperity in his speech at the APT Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Saturday. That is especially important given the painstaking attempts by some forces outside the region to sow discord among the regional countries for their own narrow ends.
To transform their consensus into action, the APT countries should work together to keep the process of regional economic integration going by promoting the full and effective implementation of the RCEP, as Premier Li urged, so as to release the maximum dividends of the free trade agreement. They should maintain the stability of industry and supply chains by adhering to opening-up and coordinated development to promote the optimizing and upgrading of regional industry and supply chains in a stable and smooth manner.
It is imperative that the APT countries improve their crisis response coordination and capacity. China actively supports building an APT storage center of emergency medical supplies and an APT rice emergency storage mechanism, promoting the effectiveness of the CMIM, and constantly improving the regional financial security network.
China is committed to injecting new impetus into APT cooperation. To help deepen the countries' low-carbon partnership and promote the region's sustainable development, China is willing to carry out cooperation on the Global Development Initiative with all parties and take the lead in conducting APT transition finance research and the hosting of APT clean energy roundtables.
Over the past decade, China has initiated more than 130 cooperative proposals or projects under the APT cooperation framework, most of which had been implemented thanks to the joint efforts of related parties. And China's cooperation with regional partners, as well as any other country, has never targeted a third party. With its door continuing to open wider and its economy irreversibly integrated into that of the world economy, China's development, as the past experience indicates, will continue to create opportunities for the region.