Asean-China senior officials to review Strategic Partnership and future direction

Last updated on May 6th, 2021 at 10:19 am

The 26th Asean-China Senior Officials’ Consultation was held virtually for the first time on July 1 to assess the progress made in the Asean-China Strategic Partnership.

Philippines, the country coordinator for the Asean-China Dialogue Relations for 2018-2021 co-chaired the meeting with its Chinese counterpart, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Saturday.

Asean-Philippines and the Philippine Temporary Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) leader Asean-Philippines and the Philippine Temporary Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) leader Junever M. Mahilum-West, headed the Philippine delegation while Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong led the Chinese delegation.

Since the establishment of the Asean-China Dialogue Partnership in 1991, Mahilum said that the region and China both   benefits and has expanded significantly across the region.

Next year, Asean and China will celebrate their 30 years of their relations.

The senior officials from different member states will also discuss the development in the South China Sea and how will it contribute to the stablity of the the Asean region.

China also committed to further boost the health cooperation to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) via information sharing, measures and pratices and vaccinne research development. This year’s meeting also highlighted the Asean-China Year of Digital Economy Cooperation where it emphasized digital connectivity, e-commerce, education and platform to help the small and medium enterprises boost economic growth.