On November 3, 2025, Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, upon invitation, attended the reception hosted by the Embassy of Timor-Leste in China to celebrate Timor-Leste's official accession to ASEAN.

Sun Weidong congratulated Timor-Leste on its official accession to ASEAN and stated that under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping, President José Ramos-Horta, and Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, the relationship between China and Timor-Leste has continued to improve and upgrade. Timor-Leste's accession to ASEAN will mark a new starting point for the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership. Both sides should take the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership in 2026 as an opportunity to continuously strengthen the synergy of development strategies, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote the building of an even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future. The fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted the Recommendations for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, outlining a grand blueprint for China's economic and social development in the next five years. China will focus on high-quality development, further deepen reform comprehensively, stay committed to expanding high-standard opening up, and continuously provide new opportunities for the region and the world through new achievements in Chinese modernization.

Ambassador Maubere Lorosae da Silva Horta expressed gratitude for China's long-standing strong support and assistance to Timor-Leste's economic and social development. He noted that as President Xi Jinping said, countries around the world are like passengers aboard the same ship who share the same destiny. ASEAN and China will sail together and create a shared future. He looks forward to taking Timor-Leste's official accession to ASEAN as an opportunity to strengthen practical cooperation with China in various fields, jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade, and promote greater development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and China.