China, ASEAN urged to accelerate economic integration

HONG KONG -- China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members should accelerate the process of regional economic integration and promote regional connectivity, experts and scholars said here on Saturday.

Wang Qin, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at China's Xiamen University, said that over the past 10 years dubbed a "golden decade," China-ASEAN relations have ushered in a new era of comprehensive cooperation and the institutional arrangement for regional integration has been gradually put in place and an all- round, multi-layered and wide-ranging economic cooperation has been further deepened.

He noted that China and ASEAN enjoy geographical proximity, cultural affinity, historical bond and closely intertwined interests.

"China and ASEAN nations account for some 30 percent of the world population, and a combined economy of more than $10 trillion dollars," he told an ASEAN Development Forum.

Although ASEAN has become the fastest growing major market in the world, problems still exist in the development of China-ASEAN economic ties, such as lack of variety in the forms of cooperation, excessive government input and imbalance in general trade, goods and services trade, and mutual investment, he said.

But he expressed confidence that the diverse natural resources and industrial structures of China and ASEAN countries, and the fact that they are at different stages of economic development and different positions in the global production networks and regional industrial chains have made both sides highly complementary and created great potentials for their economic cooperation.

Wang made a four-point proposal on promoting China-ASEAN economic cooperation:

-- China should give priority to helping ASEAN in pushing forward the "One Belt, One Road" initiatives, namely the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road;

-- Both sides should make efforts to accelerate regional integration;

-- Efforts should be made to enhance connectivity;

-- New regional industrial chains and value chains should be built to end the situation where these chains are controlled by transnational corporations.