ASEAN chief visits China

Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Le Luong Minh is paying an official visit to China from October 16-19 at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Le Luong Minh is paying an official visit to China from October 16-19 at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

At a press conference on October 16, Minh stressed that the ASEAN-China partnership is among the most dynamic and fast-growing relationships in the world.

China is the bloc’s biggest trade partner and direct investment resource, with bilateral ties rapidly developing in all areas, he added.

During the ASEAN-China Summit in Brunei on October 9, the two sides’ leaders reached a consensus on upholding their strategic partnership, and numerous specific goals to promote the bilateral ties.

As for their economic and trade relations, ASEAN and China hope to increase two-way trade turnover to 500 billion USD in 2015 and double this in 2020. China pledged 15,000 scholarships for ASEAN citizens to study in the country.

An ASEAN-China Defence Ministerial Meeting was also proposed to be held in the coming time to further strengthen the two sides’ defence cooperation.

The two sides chose 2014 as the ASEAN-China cultural exchange year.-VNA

See more