"China cannot develop smoothly without cooperation with ASEAN, and ASEAN needs the sustained and steady development of China in order to move forward. The compelling synergy produced by the cooperation of China and ASEAN cannot be calculated through mathematics," said Xu Ningning, Executive Secretary General of the Chinese Secretariat of the China-ASEAN Business Council.

Facilitating communication

Before the opening of the Ninth China-ASEAN Expo, Philippine media reported that one of the major tasks of Philippine Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II, head of the Philippine delegation to the expo, was to meet with Chinese Vice President Xi and send a message from Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to Chinese state leaders. Roxas was authorized as the special envoy of President Aquino days before leaving for China.

Roxas met with Xi in the first discussion between Manila and a top Chinese leader since bilateral ties deteriorated over the Huangyan Island dispute earlier this year.

Xi said in his meeting with Roxas that he hopes there will not be a repeat of the tension over the island, and that bilateral ties can resume as normal.

Luo Yongkun, a researcher with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that the meeting might help the Philippines better understand China's stance and reduce the chance of miscalculations.

Roxas was quoted in the Chinese Foreign Ministry press release as saying that the Philippines sincerely wishes to "develop friendly, close and normal ties" with China, to build mutual trust, and to overcome challenges in order to preserve those ties.

Meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during the expo, Xi said issues regarding the South China Sea do not represent the entirety of Sino-Vietnamese relations, but would affect their ties if improperly dealt with.

Dung echoed Xi's remarks, saying disputes should be properly solved through negotiations from a strategic point of view and in the spirit of brotherhood and camaraderie. Viet Nam will not let the disputes affect the overall state of bilateral ties.

Li Guanghui, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said, "South China Sea disputes should not be a barricade to economic cooperation between China and ASEAN nations. On the contrary, a closer economic relationship will be the basis for resolving disputes and maintaining mutual trust and friendship."

In his keynote speech at the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, Xi reiterated the goal to resolve differences with neighbors concerning territorial land, sea and maritime rights and interests peacefully through friendly negotiations.

Xi said China will always be a staunch force for peace and stability in the region and the world at large.

Breaking the bottleneck

Though economic relations between China and ASEAN have developed swiftly in the last decade, particularly since the establishment of the CAFTA, observers say the potential of the CAFTA has not been fully unleashed with the constriction of some underlying problems, such as big development gaps and similar industrial structures.

Sun Xiaoying, a research fellow on ASEAN studies with the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said that as China and most ASEAN nations are export-oriented economies, their industrial structures have shown a high degree of similarity, resulting in a low mobility of production factors within the region as well as some invisible trade barriers.

Against this backdrop, Sun said China and ASEAN nations should make adjustments and concessions to maximize the interests of regional members in the global competition.

Observers say that regional countries should make full use of the CAFTA, join forces and encourage people-to-people exchanges to resolve problems.

In his speech, Xi made four proposals on strengthening China-ASEAN cooperation, including building greater connectivity between China and ASEAN, deepening cooperation in two-way investment, improving CAFTA development and boosting social and cultural exchanges.

Regional members could make better use of the dialogue platform of the China-ASEAN Expo. China and ASEAN nations should integrate production factors on the level of the whole CAFTA, coordinate policies and information, expand highway and railway connectivity and promote the economic competitiveness of the region, said Zheng Junjian, Secretary General of the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat.

Lu Jianren, a researcher with the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, even proposed a China-ASEAN economic zone.

"The CAFTA cannot meet the demands of China-ASEAN cooperation. Better connectivity within a China-ASEAN economic zone could more closely tie the Chinese market with the ASEAN market," Lu said.

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