KUALA LUMPUR (GNP): Marking the fifth anniversary of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the 35th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations in 2026, Asia Pacific Daily, the Asia-Pacific Think Tank and the Asia-Pacific Economic and Trade Development Alliance jointly held the Third ASEAN Development Forum and a themed dinner in the Malaysian capital.
Liu Lili, Editor-in-Chief of Asia Pacific Daily, hosted the event and thanked the guests on behalf of the organisers. She said the media record history and also help build the future, and that Asia Pacific Daily wants to keep acting as a “bridge of dialogue” between China and ASEAN, reporting consensus and also helping turn it into action.
Former Nepalese Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal sent a letter of congratulation praising the organisers for a practical and timely forum. He said that by putting constructive dialogue and trade first, building trust and encouraging industrial synergy, the initiative helps turn shared challenges into mutual prosperity.
Pokin Polakul, a former President of Thailand’s National Assembly and former Deputy Prime Minister, sent a video message. In his written speech he argued that ASEAN must never serve as a tool of any major power, and that its value lies in uniting countries with different systems and levels of development and replacing confrontation with consultation.
- Tan Kok Wai, former Malaysian Special Envoy to China, said ASEAN’s value is that it lets regional countries help shape their own future. Protecting ASEAN centrality, he said, requires stronger coordination among members and respect from external partners for ASEAN-led mechanisms, and closer Malaysia-China ties should add to ASEAN unity and produce more public goods for the region.
- Heng Vuthy, President of the Cambodian National Federation for Trade, Investment and Economic Promotion, said Cambodia is committed to stronger and more effective China-ASEAN trade. He called trade and investment key pillars of cooperation, saying wider markets, smoother investment flows and connected supply chains raise productivity, create jobs, improve competitiveness and lift incomes.
- Thongloun Ousotthilam, Dean of the Thailand Belt and Road Economic and Education Development Research Institute, said mature regional cooperation should stay open, inclusive, mutually beneficial and peaceful even when the international environment shifts. ASEAN, he said, does not need to be pushed into taking sides in great-power rivalry but to cooperate openly with all parties on its own principles, build economic resilience and widen room for shared development.
- Tian Hengyu, Chairman of China Zhongchi International, said the company will invest heavily in international digital comprehensive trade industrial parks and logistics parks in Hong Kong, Guangdong, Hainan, Thailand and elsewhere. The aim, he said, is to remove barriers to integrated trade development, advance economic and trade cooperation across Southeast Asia and beyond, and help China and ASEAN achieve common prosperity.
- Jin Wensheng, Chairman of Asia Pacific Daily, said the Kuala Lumpur platform is meant to dismantle information barriers, match resources and build consensus on cooperation. He hopes government and business guests will meet face to face and move from consensus on ideas to project implementation, from high-level interaction to people-to-people understanding, and from trade connectivity to industrial prosperity. This, he said, would help upgrade the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 and create a more resilient, dynamic regional common market.
Goh Hin San, Chairman of the Malaysian Chinese Cultural Centre and a board member of the Ministry of Education; Hao Jinling, Executive Chairman of the World Chinese Association; Thongloun Ousotthilam; and Koh Keng Chee, Chairman of the Malaysian New Asia Strategic Research Centre, held a roundtable assessing the state and direction of China-ASEAN relations in political, economic, cultural and other fields.
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At the dinner, guests continued to exchange views informally and raised their glasses to a brighter future of friendship between China and ASEAN.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
