"Today, we jointly announce the establishment of a China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This is a new milestone in the history of our relations and will inject new impetus into peace, stability, prosperity and development of our region and the world," Xi said at the opening ceremony of the summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue.
Xi also stated that China was ready to provide ASEAN with another $1.5 billion of development assistance in the next three years to support ASEAN countries’ fight against COVID-19 and economic recovery. China was ready to engage in international development cooperation with ASEAN and launch negotiations on an agreement in this area, the president added.
China and ASEAN established dialogue relations in 1991. ASEAN promotes economic, political, and security cooperation among the 10 Southeast Asian nations of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.