I would like to extend warm congratulations to the opening of the Jakarta Forum on ASEAN-China Relations: Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of China’s Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. 

On October 8, 2003, China officially acceded to the Treaty of Amity and and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). China is the first among major countries to join the TAC and to establish a strategic partnership with ASEAN. This is not only a milestone in China-ASEAN relations but also an event of great significance for the whole region. Over the past 20 years, especially the last decade since President Xi Jinping put forward the idea of building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, China and ASEAN have successfully followed a path of good-neighborliness and common development. Our cooperation has become an example of most vibrant and productive cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, effectively promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.

ASEAN is one of the most successful regional cooperation organizations in the world. As a fundamental political document of ASEAN, the TAC has purposes and principles that are highly aligned with the UN Charter, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit and embody the Asian Way and Asian wisdom. Together, they have built the ASEAN-centered and widely recognized rules and order in the region. China firmly supports ASEAN unity and ASEAN Community building, and supports ASEAN centrality in the regional architecture. China will work with ASEAN to uphold the purposes and principles of the TAC, act on true multilateralism, and safeguard regional rules and order to preserve the hard-won peace and development in the region.

In November 2021, China and ASEAN took the lead in establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership. President Xi Jinping has proposed the building of a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home, charting the course for China-ASEAN relations. Standing at a new historical starting point, China is ready to work with ASEAN to stay good neighbors who help each other, good friends who respect and trust each other, and good partners who pursue mutual benefit. Let us keep to the direction of good-neighborliness and cooperation, work together to build our common home, and forge a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, with a view to creating a better future for Asia.

I wish the Forum a full success!