The following is the full text of the speech:
Remarks by H.E. Li Qiang
Premier of the State Council
Of the People’s Republic of China
At the 28th China-ASEAN Summit
Malaysia, October 28, 2025
Honorable Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim,
Colleagues,
It is my great pleasure to join you in Kuala Lumpur. I wish to thank Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the Malaysian government for their thoughtful arrangements.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. In September, China held a series of solemn commemorative events, and many ASEAN leaders joined us in Beijing to honor that arduous yet heroic chapter of history. During that war, China and Southeast Asian nations, undeterred by tyranny, rose up in resistance, stood by one another, and fought shoulder to shoulder till we achieved independence and liberation. In the ensuing decades, we continued to stand side by side to promote common development. We inspired one another and pulled together to deliver rapid economic growth. We supported one another and coalesced amid hardships to overcome major challenges like financial crises, tsunamis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. As President Xi Jinping noted during his visit to Southeast Asia in April, “Unity brings strength, and cooperation leads to mutual success.” China and ASEAN countries are good neighbors and good brothers, standing close and connected, in kinship and in mutual support. As long as we stay united and independent, we will generate immense strength. No difficulty is too great for us to surmount.
Today, we look back with delight on a year of fresh progress in China-ASEAN joint endeavors. Across all areas our cooperation is flourishing. Trade has been growing steadily. The “ASEAN Visa” has brought our peoples even closer. And we have just witnessed the signing of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol, heralding a new opportunity to expand and enhance our economic and trade cooperation. At the same time, we must pay attention to the new developments on the international landscape. Unilateralism and protectionism are buffeting the international economic and trade order, external interference in our region is on the rise, and many countries are slapped with unwarranted high tariffs. Development today faces greater risks and challenges. In the face of power politics and economic bullying, we will gain nothing from disunity and confrontation, and will only end up divided and conquered by external forces. The more challenging the situation, the more resolute we should be in maintaining unity and self-reliance. We must defend our legitimate rights and interests through mutual support and coordinated action, and promote steady and sound economic growth by leveraging our complementary strengths and deepening our cooperation. China is ready to work with ASEAN countries to build greater synergy, remove external disturbances, address risks and challenges together, and create a brighter future for all of us.
Colleagues,
Last May, the ASEAN Summit adopted the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. China stands ready to work with ASEAN countries to strengthen the alignment of development strategies, deliver on the Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2026-2030), continue advancing the building of an even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, and keep writing new chapters of China-ASEAN unity for strength.
First, we should further consolidate strategic mutual trust. China and ASEAN countries share similar values, and equality and harmonious coexistence are our common pursuit. We should strengthen strategic communication and properly handle differences to ensure that trust remains the defining theme of our relations. China will continue to support ASEAN in playing an active role and promoting the peaceful settlement of disputes between Cambodia and Thailand in the ASEAN way. We need to speed up consultations on the COC and strive for its early conclusion to better maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Second, we should promote deeper convergence of interests. We should take the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol as an opportunity to accelerate trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and strengthen industrial integration and interconnection. China will continue to replenish the China-ASEAN cooperation fund to support practical cooperation between the two sides. China is ready to work with ASEAN countries to establish a China-ASEAN digital academy, a platform for AI cooperation, and a center for maritime development and technological cooperation, and deepen cooperation in transportation, digital economy, green economy, disaster prevention and mitigation, climate change and other areas, with a view to making the pie of mutually beneficial cooperation bigger and better.
Third, we should forge stronger people-to-people bonds. We should further expand the breadth and depth of people-to-people exchanges. China will work with ASEAN to hold a successful closing ceremony of the China-ASEAN Year of People-to-People Exchanges, and designate 2026 as the China-ASEAN Year on the Fifth Anniversary of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. We will speed up the establishment of meeting mechanisms of tourism and education ministers of China and ASEAN countries, and make good use of the China-ASEAN Network of Academies on Governance and Public Administration and Think Tanks to enhance our mutual understanding and friendship.
Looking forward, China will always be ASEAN’s good friend based on mutual trust and good partner for shared development. Let us reaffirm our commitment to unity for strength, march forward together with faster steps, promote the sustained and steady development of China-ASEAN cooperation, and make greater contributions to peace and development of the region and beyond.
Thank You.
