We, the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People’s Republic of China, gathered at the 26th ASEAN-China Summit in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia, on 6 September 2023;

RECOGNISING that, as close neighbours, ASEAN-China relations have significantly grown and matured in tandem with both sides’ development since the establishment of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations in 1991; 

REAFFIRMING the key joint documents, including the Joint Statement of the Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations and Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity (2021 – 2025) and its Annex, that chart the course for mutually beneficial cooperation between ASEAN and China;

ACKNOWLEDGING the interest of ASEAN to lead the shaping of its economic and security architecture and ensuring that the dynamics and economic growth of the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions will continue to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity for the peoples in the Southeast Asia as well as in the wider region; 

SUPPORTING ASEAN’s effort on mainstreaming of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and reinforcing ASEAN-led mechanisms in building mutual trust and confidence as well as fortifying an open, transparent, inclusive regional architecture based on international law with ASEAN at the center with a common view of contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region;

NOTING that 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and acknowledging all ASEAN Member States and China have signed bilateral agreements on BRI cooperation, while noting BRI’s spirit of promoting peace and cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, equality, mutual learning and mutual benefit, principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits,and concepts of open, green and clean cooperation;

REAFFIRMING the four priority areas of the AOIP, namely: maritime cooperation,connectivity, sustainable development and economic and other areas of cooperation, and the five key areas of the BRI, namely: policy coordination,connectivity of infrastructure, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people ties;

ACKNOWLEDGING ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Mainstreaming Four Priority Areas of the AOIP within ASEAN-led Mechanisms, the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership Vision 2030, and the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Synergising the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 and BRI, as well as the Joint Communique of the Leaders’ Roundtable of the Second Belt and RoadForum for International Cooperation;

REAFFIRMING principles, shared values and norms enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, the ASEAN Charter, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the East Asia Summit (EAS) Declaration on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations (Bali Principles) as well as universally recognised principles of international law;

REAFFIRMING the commitment to multilateralism, maintain an open and inclusive regional cooperation framework, support ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture, and realise an international system, founded on the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and based on international law, and the principles of inclusivity, transparency, fairness and justice, openness, mutual benefit and mutual respect in jointly responding to regional and global challenges;

REAFFIRMING the principles of the AOIP, while recognising that the AOIP is ASEAN’s independent initiative, being open and inclusive, is intended to enhance ASEAN’s Community building process, and is not aimed at creating new mechanisms or replacing existing ones, and advancing cooperation in the relevant areas identified in the AOIP to develop enhanced strategic trust and win-win cooperation among countries in the region, as guided by the purposes and principles of the TAC;

RECALLING that in the Joint Statement on Strengthening Common and Sustainable Development, both sides agreed to promote mutually beneficial cooperation between the BRI and the AOIP, to support cooperation in the four priority areas of the AOIP and explore development cooperation with the Global Development Initiative (GDI) to complement the realisation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, support the ASEAN Community building process, and further strengthen existing ASEAN-led mechanisms;

ACKNOWLEDGING China's active efforts to promote closer ASEAN-China cooperation, including China's vision to build a closer ASEAN-China community with a shared future and taking note of China’s initiative to build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home in the region;

Hereby agree on the following:

1.Deepen the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and work for common and sustainable development and prosperity of the region under the framework of ASEAN-China cooperation through mutually beneficial cooperation to achieve development goals in a sustainable manner, and to the benefit of people's livelihoods;

2.Advance cooperation in the areas of common interests, in particular the four priority areas of the AOIP but not limited to:

Maritime Cooperation

3.Enhance maritime cooperation including through: encouraging partnership on blue economy between ASEAN and China; promoting cooperation on marine environmental protection, marine biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of the ocean, seas and marine resources; exploring projects to cooperate in marine science and technology and maritime connectivity.

Connectivity

4.Implement the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Synergising the MPAC 2025 and the BRI to deepen regional connectivity, including by jointly exploring the building of economic corridors and demonstration zones for international industrial capacity cooperation, welcoming interested ASEAN Member States to participate in the development of China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity – New International Land and Sea Trade Corridor, supporting the building of ASEAN Smart Cities Network, digital innovation and connectivity, high-quality railway development cooperation, jointly enhancing regional supply chain connectivity and resilience, cooperation on ”smart customs, smart borders and smart connectivity”, promoting green investment, successfully implementing protocol 3 of the ASEAN-China Air Transport Agreement (AC-ATA), and looking into the possibility on pursuing further liberalising of the air services regime between and beyond ASEAN and China.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030

5.Implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including but not limited to: promoting complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, exploring development cooperation with the GDI to complement the realisation of ASEAN Community Vision 2025, strengthening technical cooperation including through the implementation of the Agreement on Technical Cooperation between ASEAN and China, accelerating energy transition and green growth, strengthening regional food security, enhancing cooperation in science,technology and innovation, conducting dialogue on climate change and supporting the establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Climate Change and the ASEAN-China Clean Energy Cooperation Center, supporting the ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue (ACSDSD) and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, strengthening cooperation in social development, poverty reduction and rural revitalisation, etc.

Economic and Other Areas of Cooperation

6.Support multilateralism, deepen regional economic integration, implement the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Cooperation in Support of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework and the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Strengthening Common and Sustainable Development, support regional recovery, narrow the development gap in the region, promote the development of all countries, strengthen public health cooperation, disaster risk monitoring and early warning, full implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, and expedite ASEAN-China FTA 3.0 Upgrade negotiations in line with the agreed timeline.

7. Promote development of digital economy in the region, enhance e-commerce cooperation, including the implementation of ASEAN-China Initiative on Enhancing Cooperation on E-Commerce, cooperation on sustainable green and resilient agricultural development, cooperation on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) development, ASEAN-China Cyber Dialogue and digital governance, and support for the development of the tourism industry, etc.

8.Intensify support and assistance, financially and technically, for ASEAN’s efforts in narrowing the development gap between ASEAN Member States as well as integration efforts by implementing the IAI Work Plan IV (2021–2025) through enhancing infrastructure development, human resource development, information and communication technology and regional and sub-regional development.

9.Welcome the designation of 2024 as the ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchange to foster cooperation in areas including culture, education, youth, tourism, and sports, and to deepen people-to-people ties;

10.Mandate our officials to implement the joint statement in the spirit of friendship and consultation between ASEAN and China. We welcome the utilisation of the ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund and encourage global and regional financial institutions such as the World Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Asian Development Bank to support the implementation of cooperation projects.

11.Welcome Indonesia’s successful hosting of the ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum: Implementation of the AOIP, which focuses on cooperation on the four priorities areas of the AOIP with a view to building the epicentrum of growth;

12.Look forward to exploring cooperation at the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be hosted by China in October 2023;

13. Adopted in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia, on the Sixth of September in the Year Two Thousand and Twenty-Three.