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Opinion | A closer Asean-China community with a shared future will lead the trend of times of building a community with a shared future for mankind
- The Chinese vision of building a shared future has developed into substantive action, giving a strong boost to global governance in various sectors
- China and Asean can work together to overcome common challenges, advance open regionalism and boost cooperation opportunities
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Building a community with a shared future for mankind is the noble goal pursued by China in advancing major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics for the new era.
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The world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation with emerging hotspot issues and intensifying geopolitical conflicts, as well as rising instability and uncertainty. We humankind are at a new crossroads. Bearing the future of the world in mind, President Xi Jinping put forth the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, which answers the question of our times – “where is humanity headed” – and gives China’s proposal for how to solve the questions of “what kind of world to build and how to build it”.
Since its inception in 2013, building a community with a shared future for mankind has developed from a Chinese initiative into an international consensus, from a promising vision into substantive actions, and from a conceptual proposition into a scientific system. It has been included in resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly for seven consecutive years and has given a strong boost to global governance in various sectors.
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations enjoy geographical proximity, cultural affinity and a common future, which makes us a natural community with a shared future. In 2013, President Xi proposed the vision of building a closer Asean-China community with a shared future. Up to now, China has reached important consensus separately with seven Asean members on building such a community, which has laid a solid foundation for a closer Asean-China community with a shared future.
We have a rich historical heritage for building a closer Asean-China community with a shared future. The Chinese culture of harmony aligns with the value of unity in the diversity of Asean, which constitutes a cultural gene of a community with a shared future. Since the establishment of dialogue relations in 1991, the Asean-China relationship has achieved leapfrog developments. In 2021, we took the lead in establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership.
China and Asean have been each other’s largest trading partner for four consecutive years. The Laos-China Railway, Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway and other projects under the Belt and Road Initiative keep unleashing dividends. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free-trade agreement, has come into full effect. These have delivered tangible benefits to more than two billion people in 11 countries.
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We jointly overcame the Asian Financial Crisis and addressed various natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, we firmly stood together and offered each other support, which created resonances of a community with a shared future across the region.
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