The statement was made in a pre-recorded video played at the opening ceremony of the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) held in the Chinese city of Nanning on September 10.
In his speech, Deputy PM Thanh highlighted the importance of the two events and emphasised that ASEAN-China cooperation in the past 30 years has made significant contributions to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world at large.
He stated that ASEAN and China are facing the huge impact of COVID-19 and climate change, thus the two sides need to foster greater solidarity than ever to deal with the challenges of the pandemic as well as boosting economic recovery.
In that spirit, Thanh underlined the three focuses of ASEAN-China cooperation in the coming time, namely economic cooperation, the digital economy and access to COVID-19 vaccines.
He expressed his belief that with the joint efforts, ASEAN and China will soon manage to curb the pandemic and achieve economic recovery and growth.