30 Years of China-ASEAN; Jokowi Expects Tighter Ties with China

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo virtually attended the ASEAN-China Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations on Monday, November 22, at the Jakarta State Palace.

He said that throughout the past 30 years, many concrete collaborations have been carried out by the two regions, including in the economic sector. China has even become ASEAN's largest trading partner for the past 12 years.

“Our trade in 1991 was worth US$8.36 billion and last year it reached more than US$685.28 billion, an 82-fold increase in just less than 30 years,” he said in a statement as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat’s press release today.

According to Jokowi, the ties between ASEAN and China require hard work, one of which is by building trust in order to build a stronger and mutually beneficial partnership in the next 30 years.

The partnership, he continued, needs to be strengthened to create the region as an economic powerhouse. In order to bring this to fruition, he argued that ASEAN and China shared a responsibility to create a peaceful and stable region.

“Let's strengthen cooperation to recover together, recover stronger. Congratulations on the 30 years of ASEAN-China. I am sure that a comprehensive strategic partnership will lead us to a big leap for the progress of ASEAN-China relations in the future,” said Jokowi.

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DEWI NURITA