ASEAN, China play greater role in global development: Expert

The strategic partnership between China and ASEAN will have positive implications that go beyond the relationship between the two sides, according to a noted Indonesian expert.

"The partnership between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China will benefit the wider East Asian region and the world," Jusuf Wanandi said in a commentary on The Jakarta Post daily Thursday.

"ASEAN and China will play an increasingly important role in global affairs. They also have a growing stake in global developments," said Wanandi, a senior fellow at the respected Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta.

To support his view, Wanandi said ASEAN countries and China are open economies and rapidly integrating into the global economy.

Their strong will to cooperate with each other will allow full integration into the global economy to proceed smoothly, without causing major dislocations within the global economy.

"The ASEAN countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- will continuously reform, restructure and integrate their economies toward the creation of a single market and production base in 2020.

"China, on its part, is making the same effort and is doing that at a remarkably rapid pace," he said.

"The transformation of the economies of ASEAN and China may be one of the major developments in the 21st century," said Wanandi, a director with the newspaper.

Source: Xinhua