The meeting was co-chaired by Permanent Representative of Myanmar to ASEAN, Ambassador Aung Myo Myint, and Ambassador of China to ASEAN, Deng Xijun, and attended by the Permanent Representatives of ASEAN member states and the Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Political-Security Community.
The meeting discussed developments in ASEAN and China and the continued progress of cooperation over the last year. Substantive progress has been made in various areas of the ASEAN-China Plan of Action 2021-2025, such as trade, ICT, digital economy, education, public health, culture and information, media, environment and sustainable development, and narrowing the development gap.
Both sides discussed the follow-up to the implementation of the ASEAN-China CSP. Several areas have been highlighted with a view to making the partnership more substantive, meaningful and mutually beneficial, such as enhancing cooperation in trade and investment through the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area and implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, digital economy, cybersecurity, connectivity including air connectivity, clean energy and environment protection.
The meeting welcomed the progress of the ASEAN-China Sustainable Development Cooperation Year. Both sides are also working on a Technical Cooperation Agreement to strengthen collaboration between ASEAN and China in support of ASEAN Community building and integration.
ASEAN welcomed China’s continued support in addressing COVID-19, including its contribution in the total of 6 million USD to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund and the implementation of the Program on Public Health Emergency Preparedness Capacity (PROMPT). Both sides agreed to work closely in facilitating the post-pandemic recovery, including through the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework.
