Fifth, stick to openness and inclusiveness. The sea is big because it admits all rivers. In the long course of human history, the people of China and ASEAN countries have created splendid and great civilizations renowned around the world. Ours is a diversified region. Various civilizations have assimilated and interacted with one another under the influence of different cultures, which affords and important cultural foundation for the people China ASEAN countries to learn from and complement one another.

We should draw upon the experience of other regions in development and welcome a constructive role by non-regional countries in the development and stability of the region. At the same time, these, non-regional countries should respect the diversity of the region and do more to facilitate regional development and stability. The China-ASEAN community of shared destiny is closely linked with the ASEAN community and the East Asia community. The two sides need to bring out their respective strengths to realize diversity, harmony, inclusiveness and common progress for the benefit of the people of the region and beyond.

A more closely knit China-ASEAN common destiny conforms to the trend of the times for seeking peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, and meets the common interests of the people of Asia and the world, hence enjoying a broad space and huge potential of growth.

Fourth, enhance mutual understanding and friendship. Just as a Chinese saying goes, “A big tree grows from a small seedling; and a nine-storeyed tower is built out of soil.” To ensure that the tree of China-ASEAN friendship remains evergreen, the soil of social support for our relations should be compacted. Last year saw 15 million people traveling between China and ASEAN countries with over 1,000 flights between the two sides each week. Increased interactions have nurtured deeper bonds between us and enabled our people to feel ever closer to each other.

We should encourage more friendly exchanges between youth, think tanks, parliaments, NGOs and civil organizations of the two sides, which in turn will generate more intellectual support to the growth of China-ASEAN relations and help increase the mutual understanding and friendship between our peoples. China is ready to send more volunteers to ASEAN countries to support their cultural, educational, health and medical development. China has proposed to set 2014 as the year of China-ASEAN cultural exchanges. In the coming three to five years, china will offer ASEAN countries 15,000 government scholarships.

Third, stand together and assist each other. China and ASEAN countries are as close as lips and teeth. We share the responsibility for regional peace and stability. Historically, the people of China and ASEAN countries had stood together through thick and thin in the fight to take our destiny back into our own hands. In recent years, our peoples have stood side by side and forged strong synergy in responding to various crises from Asian financial crisis to the international financial crisis, and from the Indian Ocean tsunami to China’s Wenchuan earthquake.

We should cast away the Cold War mentality, champion the new thinking of comprehensive security, common security and cooperative security and jointly uphold regional peace and stability. We should deepen cooperation in disaster prevention and relief, cyber security, combating cross-border crimes and joint law enforcement to create a more peaceful, tranquil and amicable home for the people in the region.

China is ready to work with ASEAN countries to improve China-ASEAN defense ministers’ meeting mechanism and hold regular dialogues on regional security issues.

With regard to differences and disputes between China and some Southeast Asian nations on territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, peaceful solutions should be sought, and differences and disputes should be properly handled through equal-footed dialogue and friendly consultation in the overall interests of bilateral ties and regional stability.

Second, work for win-win cooperation. As a well-known Chinese saying goes, “The interests to be considered should be the interests of all,” China is ready to open itself wider to ASEAN countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit to enable ASEAN countries to benefit more from China’s development. China is prepared to upgrade the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and strive to expand two-way trade to one trillion US dollars by 2020.

China is committed to greater connectivity with ASEAN countries. China will propose the establishment of an Asian infrastructure investment bank that would give priority to ASEAN countries’ needs.

Southeast Asia has since ancient times been an important hub along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. China will strengthen maritime cooperation with ASEAN countries to make good use of the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund set up by the Chinese government and vigorously develop maritime partnership in a joint effort to build the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st century. China is ready to expand its practical cooperation with ASEAN countries across the board, supplying each other’s needs and complementing each other’s strengths, with a view to jointly seizing opportunities and meeting challenges for the benefit of common development and prosperity.

First, build trust and develop good-neighborliness. Trust in the very foundation of both interpersonal and state-to-state relations. China is committed to a relationship of sincerity and friendship with ASEAN countries and to enhanced mutual political and strategic trust.

There is no one-size-fits-all development model in the world or an unchanging development path. Both the Chinese people and people in ASEAN countries have embraced change and innovation with an open mind, and explored and found, in a pioneering and enterprising spirit, development paths in light of their specific national conditions that conform to the trend of times. All these efforts have opened up a broad prospect for their economic and social development.

We should respect each other’s right to independently choose social system and development path as well as each other’s efforts to explore and pursue economic and social development, and improve people’s lives. We should have full confidence in each other’s strategic direction, support each other on issues of major concern, and never deviate from the general direction of China- ASEAN strategic cooperation.

China is ready to discuss with ASEAN countries the prospect of concluding of a treaty of good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation in a joint effort to build good-neighborly relations. China will continue to support ASEAN in growing its strength, building ASEAN community and playing a central role in regional cooperation.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Dear Friends,

China and ASEAN countries are linked by common mountains and rivers and share a historical bond. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the China-ASEAN strategic partnership. Our relationship now stands at a new historical starting point.

China places great importance on Indonesia’s status and influence in ASEAN. China wishes to work with Indonesia and other ASEAN countries to ensure that China and ASEAN are good neighbors, good friends and good partners who would share prosperity and security and stick together through thick and thin. By making joint efforts, we will build a more closely-knit China-ASEAN community of common destiny so as to bring more benefits to both China and ASEAN and to the people in the region.

To that end, we should focus our efforts in the following areas: