On January 22, 2010, China's State Councilor Dai Bingguo met with Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the ASEAN Secretariat in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

Dai highly appreciated the achievement of ASEAN in terms of ASEAN Community construction and its integration development. He said that China as a strategic partner supported the development of ASEAN and was willing to see it play a greater role in regional and international affairs.

Dai said that the relationship between China and ASEAN had been developing steadily, and the two sides had achieved fruitful results in their cooperation. "As the China-ASEAN free trade zone went into operation on Jan. 1, the two sides saw their economic and trade cooperation entering into a comprehensive and deepening development stage, which provides more tangible benefits to their people," said Dai. Dai added that the enhanced cooperation between China and ASEAN follows the development trend of the time and is the common aspiration of both peoples. It would improve peace and development of the Asia-Pacific region, as the international situation was undergoing complex, profound changes and the economic globalization and regional integration were being accelerated. He said China had attached great importance to its relationship with ASEAN. According to him, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao declared a series of important initiatives on further strengthening China-ASEAN cooperation at the recent China-ASEAN summit. China is willing to join hands with ASEAN nations to fulfill these initiatives, expand and deepen communication and cooperation with them, share the opportunity, meet the challenges and achieve win-win outcome, so as to create a brighter future for the China-ASEAN strategic partnership and contribute to the common development and prosperity of Asia.

Dai also said that China as a member of East Asia family always proposed and supported East Asia cooperation. East Asia is featured by diversity with various cooperation mechanisms coexisting together. China advocates opening up, tolerance and making each mechanism support and improve others with its own advantages. China welcomes countries outside East Asia to play a constructive role for regional peace and development, with the cooperation between ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea as a main channel and ASEAN working steadily as a guiding force.

Surin said that the ASEAN-China relationship developed fast with many dynamic, innovative and prominent achievements. China acted positively against the international financial crisis with a responsible attitude, which contributes significantly to the stability and recovery of the Asian and world economy. He added that the ASEAN nations appreciated the long-standing support and assistance from China, and firmly believed they could benefit from China's development. The secretary-general said that ASEAN expected to join hands with China in the development of ASEAN-China free trade zone, enhance cooperation in more areas, realize mutual benefit and win-win outcome, and improve the stability and prosperity in this region. "We are fully confident about the future of ASEAN-China relations," said Surin.