Prospects for the future

After 15 years, China and ASEAN have forged solid, comprehensive and mutually beneficial ties. China-ASEAN relations are the most vigorous and substantial bilateral ties that ASEAN has established with its dialogue partners. This will undoubtedly lay a solid foundation for the development of their relations over the next 15 years or more. As China's development targets for the next 10 to 15 years are similar to those of ASEAN-the former is seeking to develop a well-off society while the latter is engaged in building the ASEAN Community-their interests seem to be in accord. In this sense, the future of their strategic partnership is rosy.

On the other hand, to further consolidate their strategic partnership, China and ASEAN need to make efforts to better solve some issues between them.

The first is how to further increase mutual trust in the political sphere. The two sides still have different understanding of their strategic development direction. For example, some people in ASEAN countries are still skeptical of China's peaceful development strategy, and it will take time to eliminate the effect of the "China threat" theory. In addition, the disputes over the South China Sea are still a sensitive issue between the two sides.

Second, there is still a distance between the current level of cooperation and the orientation of the strategic partnership. The two sides need to move to a higher level and give priority to those projects that are aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership. They also need to foster a sense of coordination and joint participation, strengthen their interaction and speed up the implementation of cooperation plans in key fields.

Third, on international and regional issues the two sides need to make efforts toward greater cooperation to push forward their common interests.

All these issues need determination and wisdom on both sides.

The coming 15 years are crucial for both sides to achieve their objectives. Only a closer strategic partnership can ensure and advance the fulfillment of the development goals of both sides. To this end, China and ASEAN should do better in their future cooperation in all fields.

As a rapidly rising country, China intends to adhere to the diplomatic policy of creating an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood. ASEAN members need to show more sincerity in the political area and shoulder more aid and cooperation projects in the economic field, so as to gain more opportunities and benefits from China's development.

Looking ahead, with the creation of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone, bilateral economic and trade ties will be much closer, the economies of the two sides stronger and their strategic partnership more consolidated, which is sure to advance the stability and prosperity of the region and world peace.

The author is deputy director of the Center for APEC and East Asian Cooperation under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences