China ready to further boost cooperation with ASEAN

Nay Pyi Taw, Nov 21 (IANS) China is ready to further boost cooperation with the ASEAN, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Wang said on Monday that Beijing has appreciated positive response of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to China's proposal to formulate a vision for strategic partnership between China and the ASEAN by 2030, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Chinese Foreign Minister's remarks came during the meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan on the sidelines of the 13th Foreign Ministers' meeting of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the Myanmar capital.

Wang also expressed appreciation for the important role of Singapore, as a coordinator of China-ASEAN ties, in deepening China-ASEAN cooperation and properly handling the South China Sea issue as well as its efforts for a successful ASEAN summit and related meetings in the Philippines last week.

The 10-member ASEAN groups include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

China will support Singapore, which holds ASEAN's rotating chair in 2018, in fulfilling its duties as the host country, Wang said.

China is willing to work with the ASEAN countries for substantive consultations on the text of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea based on mutual respect and equal footing so as to continue promoting mutual trust and safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea, he said.

For his part, Balakrishnan said Singapore is ready to work with China to bring the all-around pragmatic cooperation between the two countries to a new high and consolidate the positive momentum in the South China Sea.