I. Introduction
1. Since China was accorded full Dialogue Partner status at the 29th AMM in July 1996 in Jakarta, cooperation between ASEAN and China has been broadened and deepened. The relationship has been elevated to a higher plane with the adoption of the Joint Declaration of the Heads of State/Government of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations and the People’s Republic of China on Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity at the ASEAN-China Summit on 8 October 2003 in Bali.
II. Political and Security Cooperation
2. China has entered into a number of agreements with ASEAN in the area of political and security cooperation during the past 3 years. These include the Joint Declaration of ASEAN and China on Cooperation in the Field of Non-traditional Security Issues and the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea, concluded at the ASEAN-China Summit in 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. China was the first Dialogue Partner to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia at the ASEAN-China Summit in October 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. China has expressed its willingness to work with ASEAN for its early accession to the Protocol to the Treaty on Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone (SEANWFZ).
3. As a follow-up to the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea, ASEAN and China would be convening a senior officials’ meeting in December 2004. In the field of non-traditional security issues, ASEAN and China signed an MOU on Cooperation in the Field of Non-traditional Security Issues in January 2004 in Bangkok to implement the Joint Declaration in the Field of Non-Traditional Security Issues. In this regard, ASEAN and China have successfully implemented all activities based on the 2004 Annual Plan to implement the MOU. A new Annual Plan is being developed for 2005.
III. Economic Cooperation
4. Over the years, economic and trade cooperation between ASEAN and China has grown rapidly. The growth of ASEAN exports to and imports from China reached US$ 47.3 billion and US$ 30.9 billion in 2003, respectively. This was an increase of 51.7% and 31.2%, respectively, from the previous year. The trade value in 2004 is expected to increase further as indicated by figures for the first seven months of 2004 where ASEAN exports to and imports from China reached US$34.5 billion and US$ 22.2 billion, respectively. This represents an increase of 40.7% and 34.1% respectively for the same period of 2003. ASEAN is now China’s fifth export market and fourth import source. At the ASEAN-China Summit in 2003, a target of US$100 billion in two-way annual trade by 2005 is envisaged and this target is expected to be achieved due to the significant growth in trade.
5. In November 2002, the Leaders of ASEAN Member Countries and China signed the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Co-operation, which provides for an ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) by the year 2010 for Brunei Darussalam, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and by 2015 for the newer ASEAN Member Countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam.
6. The negotiations on the modalities for tariff reduction/elimination schedules and Trade in Goods and Dispute Settlement Mechanism Agreements had been concluded in Beijing in October 2004. ASEAN and China are expected to sign the Trade in Goods Agreement and the Dispute Settlement Mechanism Agreement at the ASEAN-China Summit in November 2004 in Vientiane.
7. In the field of transport, ASEAN and China are expected to sign an MOU between ASEAN and China on Transport Cooperation at the sidelines of the ASEAN-China Summit in November 2004 in Vientiane. The MOU is expected to strengthen ASEAN-China transport cooperation in a more holistic and integrated manner, as well as to lay a solid foundation for medium-to-long term collaboration to support the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area.
IV. Functional Cooperation
8. At the ASEAN-China Summit on 6 November 2001 in Brunei Darussalam, ASEAN and China agreed to focus their cooperation on five priority areas in the early part of the 21st Century, namely agriculture, information and communications technology (ICT), human resource development (HRD), Mekong River Basin development, and two-way investment.
9. In order to strengthen the cooperation in the five agreed priority areas, ASEAN and China signed an MOU on Medium and Long-Term Plan of Agricultural Cooperation between the Ministry of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministries of Agriculture of the Ten ASEAN Member Countries on 2 November 2002 in Phnom Penh and an MOU on Cooperation in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) on 8 October 2003 at the Bali Summit.
10. ASEAN and China are working closely in implementing the Mekong Basin development programs and projects within various frameworks such as Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), ASEAN Mekong Basin Development Cooperation (AMBDC) and the Mekong River Commission (MRC). China has contributed a sum of US$ 5 million to help regulate some sections of the navigation channel within the territories of Laos and Myanmar.
11. In the area of public health, China has pledged 10 million RMB in support of the ASEAN-China cooperation on SARS prevention and control. China has indicated that it would establish a China-ASEAN Fund for Public Health, which would be utilised, among others, for funding the second phase of the ASEAN Emerging and Resurging Infections Surveillance and Response Programme (AERSIRP). ASEAN and China would be establishing an ASEAN-China Health Ministers’ Meeting, tentatively in 2005.
12. In the area of culture, ASEAN and China are drafting an MOU between the Governments of the Member Countries of Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the People’s Republic of China on Cultural Cooperation. The MOU is expected to be signed by the ASEAN-China Ministers on Culture and Arts during the ASEAN Plus Three Ministers on Culture Arts Meeting (AMCA+3) in 2005.
13. Cooperation in tourism with China is conducted through meetings of ASEAN+3 National Tourism Organisations and ASEAN+3 Tourism Ministers. The possible ASEAN+3 cooperation activities under the ASEAN+3 framework include research on tourism and information technology, seminars on hospitality and tourism, issuing tourism publications, establishing tourism networks, and setting up a Centre for Tourism Resource Management.
14. In the area of youth, ASEAN and China have established the Senior Officials Consultation Meeting on Youth in May 2004 and the ASEAN-China Ministers for Youth Affairs Meeting in September 2004. ASEAN and China have also convened the ASEAN-China Business Young Leaders Summit on 23-28 May 2004 in Guangxi, China.
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