中国与东盟共庆建立对话关系的“钻石十年”.doc

China, ASEAN Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations By Suherdjoko Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Xu Bu has said China and ASEAN will achieve broader and deeper cooperation as they have entered the “diamond decade” of their relations. Speaking in a seminar, which marks the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations, in Semarang, Central Java in June 2016, Xu Bu said?ASEAN stood out in its neighboring region as the priority of China’s diplomacy. Xu Bu said 2016 was the year, which marked the opening of the ASEAN Community, the starting of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan and the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations. “If the first 10 years were seen as the ‘golden decade’ for China-ASEAN relations, just as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang put it, we have now ushered in a new era for China-ASEAN relations, the ‘diamond decade’, which boasts broader and deeper cooperation,” the ambassador said in his remarks during the seminar. Several experts from China and ASEAN member countries attended the event, where they discussed various issues. China and ASEAN established the Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in October 2003. Xu Bu explained that since the launch of their dialogue relations 25 years ago, China and ASEAN had made great achievements in practical cooperation across all fields. In 2015, China-ASEAN trade aggregate topped US$ 472 billion, China-ASEAN two-way investment amounted to more than US$ 156 billion, substantially increased people-to-people relations and there were more than 180,000 exchange students sent by both China and ASEAN countries, he added. Xu Bu said China had been ASEAN’s biggest trading partner for seven consecutive years, while ASEAN ranked as China’s third largest trading partner for four consecutive years. Every week, he further said, there were more than 1,000 flights shuttling between China and ASEAN countries. “Closer economic ties, greater financing links and richer people-to-people exc