On November 17, 2015, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a briefing for Chinese and foreign media on Premier Li Keqiang's upcoming attendance at the 18th China-ASEAN (10+1) Summit, the 18th ASEAN Plus China, Japan and the ROK (10+3) Summit and the 10th East Asia Summit to be held in Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia, and official visit to Malaysia. Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and Vice Commerce Minister Gao Yan briefed on the relevant information and answered questions from the Chinese and foreign journalists.

I. On the attendance at the leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation

Liu Zhenmin introduced that East Asia maintains an overall stable situation and continues to take the lead in global development. The constantly advanced East Asia cooperation process and fruitful cooperation results in mechanisms such as the 10+1, 10+3 and East Asia Summit have brought tangible interests to peoples in the region. The ASEAN community will be established at the end of this year, and China-Japan-ROK cooperation gradually returns onto the right track, bringing strong impetus to East Asia cooperation and accelerating the regional integration process. In the meanwhile, the world is facing a sluggish economic recovery, structural adjustment in and external pressures on the economic growth of all countries, prominent non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, climate change and infectious diseases, and some remaining factors of uncertainty and instability.

During the meetings, all parties will summarize and review the achievements made in East Asia cooperation in the past year, and put forward opinions and suggestions on the development of various mechanisms. They will also have in-depth exchanges of views on international and regional issues of common concern. Premier Li Keqiang will give an in-depth introduction to China's policies and proposals on East Asia cooperation, and propose a series of new initiatives on practical cooperation for the overall objective of forging East Asia into a pole of stable growth and to push East Asia cooperation to new stages.

1. The 10+1 Summit

The ASEAN is the center of East Asia cooperation and a priority in China's neighborhood diplomacy. Since the establishment of dialogue relations 24 years ago, China and the ASEAN have enjoyed continuously deepened political mutual trust and fruitful results in practical cooperation, set up over ten ministerial meeting mechanisms concerning Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Economy, Transport and Customs, Procurators-General and others, and decided the major fields of cooperation such as agriculture, information and communication technology, human resource development, mutual investment, development of Mekong River and transport. As this year marks the Year of China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation, the ASEAN community will be established at the end of this year, and the next year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue relations. The development of the bilateral relations is at a new starting point and faces new opportunities.

Since the beginning of this year, China-ASEAN relations enjoy a sound overall development. The two sides are making the next five-year cooperation action plan for China-ASEAN strategic partnership. In this October, the China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting was held in China for the first time, and the first China-ASEAN Ministerial Dialogue on Law Enforcement Security Cooperation was successfully held, enhancing bilateral understanding and mutual trust. Both sides have substantially completed the negotiations on upgrading the China-ASEAN free trade area.

At this year's 10+1 Summit, Premier Li Keqiang will focus on elaborating China's policy toward the ASEAN, and continue to promote the implementation of initiatives such as establishing a closer China-ASEAN community of common destiny, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and China-ASEAN "2+7 cooperation framework", and focus on promoting cooperation in aspects such as production capacity and connectivity to continuously enhance the level of China-ASEAN relations.

2. The 10+3 Summit

The 10+3 is the main channel of East Asia cooperation, and 17 ministerial meeting mechanisms have been established including foreign affairs, finance, economy, trade, agriculture, public health and culture. The Trilateral Leaders' Meeting of China, Japan and the ROK has been resumed after three years' suspension, injecting new impetus to the 10+3 Summit this time.

Since the beginning of this year, the 10+3 cooperation has made positive achievements in fields such as finance and food security. The multilateralization mechanism of the Chiang Mai Initiative is developing toward the direction of practical operation. The 10+3 Macroeconomic Research Office will soon be upgraded to an international organization. The construction of the 10+3 Emergency Rice Reserve mechanism is steadily promoted. All sides have agreed on and took the lead in the priority cooperation proposals of the "Report of the East Asia Vision Group II (EAVGII)" and made relative action plans.

At this year's 10+3 Summit, China will promote all sides to earnestly implement the "10+3 Cooperation Work Plan 2013-2017" and the "Report of the EAVGII", deepen cooperation in traditional areas such as finance and food security, expand cooperation in new areas such as connectivity, international production capacity, sea, poverty alleviation, energy and disaster relief, accelerate the negotiation process of the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)" and China-Japan-ROK free trade area, and jointly strive to achieve the goal of building an East Asia economic community by 2020.

3. The East Asia Summit

The East Asia Summit is a "leaders-led strategic forum" covering major countries such as China, the United States, Russia and India. The total population and economic aggregate of the member countries have accounted for more than 50 percent of that of the world. It is an important platform connecting East Asia cooperation and Asia-Pacific cooperation. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the East Asia Summit. Over the past decade, the Summit has yielded fruitful results and played a positive role in enhancing mutual trust among all sides and promoting regional cooperation, and enjoys an increasing influence. All sides pay close attention to the direction of its future development.

At this year's East Asia Summit, Premier Li Keqiang will introduce China's views on the direction of the future development of the Summit. He will emphasize adherence to the positioning of the Summit as a strategic forum, adherence to principals such as ASEAN-led, negotiations for consensus and accommodating all sides' comfort level, promoting all sides to continue implementing the "Plan of Action to Implement the Phnom Penh Declaration on EAS Development Initiative", advancing cooperation in six key areas including energy and environmental protection, finance, education, public health, disaster management and ASEAN connectivity, and adherence to the "two-wheel drive" of economic development and political security so as to promote the sound and stable development of the Summit.

Gao Yan said that East Asia is one of the regions with the most potential and development prospects in the world. The East Asian countries enhancing economic and trade cooperation and jointly addressing challenges is of great significance to promoting the sound and stable economic development of the region and the world. China and the ASEAN are important trading partners to each other. China has been the ASEAN's largest trading partner for six years in a row, and the ASEAN has been China's third largest trading partner for four years in a row. From January to October this year, the bilateral trade volume reached 379.2 billion USD. The bilateral economic and trade cooperation is the most substantial and fruitful in East Asia economic and trade cooperation with four features. First, the bilateral trade is better than the overall situation of China's foreign trade. Second, mutual investment has become increasingly fruitful. Third, regional economic integration has been promoted steadily. Fourth, connectivity cooperation has been constantly deepened.

During the leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation, China is willing to work with relevant parties to promote the meetings for positive outcomes, accelerate the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, conclude the negotiations on upgrading the China-ASEAN free trade area on schedule, complete the RCEP negotiations as soon as possible and deepen cooperation in areas such as connectivity, production capacity, investment and construction of industrial parks. China is also willing to continue increasing aid to the less developed countries in the region and support the building of the ASEAN community to promote the common economic development of East Asia.

Liu Zhenmin also answered questions of the journalists on the South China Sea issue and expounded on China's stance and views on the relevant issues.

II. On the visit to Malaysia

Liu Zhenmin introduced that Malaysia is an important member of the ASEAN. China attaches great importance to developing its relations with Malaysia. China and Malaysia have witnessed a smooth development of relations in recent years and established a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2013. The two sides enjoy frequent mutual visits between the leaders, with their economic and trade cooperation developing at the forefront of cooperation between China and the ASEAN countries, continuously expanded cooperation in fields such as finance, education and culture, and long-term close coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs.

As Premier Li Keqiang's first visit to Malaysia since taking office, it bears great significance to promoting China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership. During the visit, Premier Li Keqiang will attend the welcoming ceremony and welcoming banquet held by Prime Minister Najib Razak, and hold talks with Prime Minister Najib Razak to have an in-depth exchange of views on the bilateral relations and practical cooperation in various areas and map out the future development of China-Malaysia relations. The two sides will also jointly witness the signing of a series of documents on practical cooperation in fields such as economy, trade and culture. Premier Li Keqiang will also have extensive contacts with all circles in Malaysia. We expect that the visit will deepen China-Malaysia friendship, comprehensively upgrade the level of bilateral practical cooperation in various fields and promote China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

Gao Yan said that Malaysia has been China's largest trading partner in the ASEAN for seven consecutive years, and also China's third largest trading partner in Asia. The China-Malaysia trade volume has exceeded 100 billion USD, and the two-way investment between the two countries has developed rapidly. The China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park and Kuantan Industrial Park launched between China's Guangxi Autonomous Region and Malaysia's State of Pahang have become models for the innovative development of China-Malaysia economic and trade cooperation. We believe that Premier Li Keqiang's visit this time will definitely enhance the level of bilateral trade and investment cooperation, and push for new achievements between the two sides in fields such as the construction of the "Belt and Road", cooperation in production capacity and investment, construction of industrial parks and construction of infrastructure connectivity.