Peace and prosperity propeller

The political and economic wheels must run at the same time in East Asia. This is the metaphor Chinese Premier Li Keqiang used to indicate how cooperation between China and ASEAN countries should proceed to promote regional peace and stability in a speech at the Ninth East Asia Summit on Thursday in the Myanmar capital.

In his speech, Li said that China is talking with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations about signing a treaty on friendly cooperation, which will provide an institutional framework and legal guarantee for both sides to coexist peacefully for generations.

Li said that China is willing to take this as an opportunity to promote permanent peace in East Asia.

This shows that China is and will continue to be a propeller of peace and stability in East Asia and speaks volumes for its eagerness and sincerity to seek as solid a partnership as possible with its ASEAN neighbors.

China well knows that economic growth and social progress are out of the question without a peaceful environment sustained with friendly bilateral relations.

China's sincerity and willingness to promote political trust with ASEAN countries also found expression in clarifying its stand on settling the disputes in the South China Sea using a double track approach - relevant countries engage in negotiations and consultations to solve the disputes while the peace and stability in the South China Sea are maintained by the joint efforts of China and the ASEAN.

In this regard, Li also emphasized that efforts will be made to reach a consensus on the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea as early as possible.

That China has maintained the principle of seeking common ground and shelving differences sends a clear message that it does not want the disputes and differences to stand in the way of regional stability and common prosperity in eastern Asia.

China attaches great importance to its relations with the ASEAN countries as it knows that a prosperous East Asia with political stability is both in its own interests and in conformity with its aspiration of seeking common prosperity with the rest of the world.

There is no reason for China and ASEAN countries not to keep and promote the momentum of their cooperation, and there are more than enough reasons for both sides to put aside their differences to expand their win-win cooperation, which will further consolidate regional peace and stability and bring real benefits to people in this region and beyond.