Decade of close cooperation between China and ASEAN paves foundation for good-neighborly relations for the future

On Thursday, the foreign ministers of China and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will hold a special meeting in Beijing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN strategic partnership. The agenda will focus on how to deepen the bilateral strategic partnership.

The Asian financial crisis of 1997 led China and the members of ASEAN to realize the importance of deepening cooperation to jointly confront challenges, and China and ASEAN signed the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in 2003 in Bali, Indonesia.