APEC.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
To further develop ties with Southeast Asian nations, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will leave on Wednesday and is set to visit Myanmar on Friday to attend meetings with other nations' leaders on East Asia cooperation.
In line with celebrating the "Diamond Decade" between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the premier's tour will indicate China's cooperation in promoting regional cooperation in East Asia and safeguarding regional peace and stability.
China and the ASEAN have coined the term "Golden Decade" for the past 10 years of their cooperation, and now that they have reached the "Diamond Decade," both parties aim at upgrading bilateral and practical relations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping took trips to Indonesia and Malaysia, while Premier Li went to Brunei, Thailand and Vietnam in October last year to improve relations with the mentioned ASEAN countries.
Because the ASEAN region is China's top priority when it comes to diplomacy, Deputy Director Jiang Ruiping of China Foreign Affairs University said that a symposium on peacekeeping was held right after the two leaders' visit in 2013.
China has been laying out proposals with ASEAN countries since the previous year. Some of the points broached about building an ASEAN community with the same objectives, creating a China-ASEAN free trade "upgraded version" and the "2+7 cooperation framework."
The country's latest project was forming the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which has gained nods from 21 Asian countries. The initiative will establish a multilateral lender based in Beijing, with a required starting capital of $50 billion.
Prior to the trip, the premier met with Myanmar President U Thein Sein in Beijing on Saturday. He said that his tour in Myanmar would be able to advance political consensus between China and the Southeast Asian country.
