China-ASEAN relations have experienced the following stages:

I. Before 1991: From confrontation and suspicion to dialogue and cooperation

As close neighbors, China and Southeast Asian countries have a long history of contact in the past. After ASEAN was formed in 1967, its relations with China underwent a period of fluctuation. In its early days, ASEAN had confrontations with and distrusted China. But in 1974 and 1975, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, three of the initial members of ASEAN, established diplomatic relations with China. Also in 1975, China formally recognized ASEAN as a regional organization. In the following 15 years, China and all ASEAN members strengthened mutual understanding gradually through bilateral activities.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, China greatly altered its foreign policy. In November 1978, late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping visited Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, expressing the view that China was willing to strengthen and develop friendly relations with ASEAN members and establish economic, trade, scientific and technological contacts. His proposal was widely understood and accepted by ASEAN members. The two sides also reached a consensus on a political solution to the Cambodia issue and carried out effective cooperation. During that time, their mutual understanding and trust were strengthened, advancing the development of bilateral relations. By 1991, China had established or resumed diplomatic relations with all ASEAN members, paving the way for their future dialogue and cooperation.

II. 1991-96: Establishing an overall dialogue framework

The years from 1991 to 1996 witnessed the rapid economic growth and expanding political influence of ASEAN countries. The role of ASEAN in Asia became more and more important. To maintain the peace, stability and development of Southeast Asia, ASEAN initiated several dialogue mechanisms. After more than 10 years of reform and opening up, China paid more attention to the stability of the surrounding environment. As ASEAN members are all China’s neighbors and developing countries, the organization has many interests in common with China. Thus, both sides had the political will to establish a closer dialogue and cooperative relationship.

In May 1991, China began to establish a formal connection with ASEAN. Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen wrote to ASEAN, expressing the hope of launching dialogue with the organization in a number of fields, which received a positive response. In July of that year, Qian was invited to attend the opening ceremony of the 24th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and held the first informal talks with foreign ministers of the six ASEAN members, marking the start of the China-ASEAN dialogue.

In July 1994, China was invited to attend the first meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) as ASEAN’s consultation partner, and became one of the founders of the forum, which started a dialogue and cooperation in the regional security field between the two sides.

In April 1995, the China-ASEAN Vice Ministerial Consultation Meeting was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, creating a new mechanism to deepen the dialogue between the two sides.

In July 1996, at the 29th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, China formally became a full dialogue partner of ASEAN.

During the five years from 1991 to 1996, political and economic relations between China and ASEAN developed very quickly. In the political area, the two sides launched a process to strengthen mutual trust based on frank dialogue. On the issue of the South China Sea, China came up with a proposal to conduct joint development while shelving disputes, which was actively echoed by relevant ASEAN members. The bilateral or multilateral dialogues on the South China Sea made great progress.

In particular, bilateral trade and investment showed rapid growth. During this period, bilateral relations between China and every ASEAN member were further consolidated and developed, and high-ranking officials of the two sides visited each other more frequently. Bilateral ties were elevated from general relations to good-neighborly relations and then to a full dialogue partnership.

III. 1997-2002: A good-neighborly partnership of mutual trust

This period featured the establishment of the 10+1 framework and the overall development of bilateral relations.

The financial crisis in 1997 turned out to be a turning point in relations between China and ASEAN. The two sides coped with the crisis through joint efforts. In the face of heavy economic pressure, China insisted on not devaluing the renminbi and provided financial support to ASEAN members, which helped to avoid a further deterioration of the economic situation in ASEAN countries. ASEAN members felt China’s role as a big regional country and their trust in China increased.

In the political field, ASEAN initiated regular meetings between leaders of ASEAN member nations and China, Japan and South Korea (10+3), and set up regular meetings between China and ASEAN (10+1). In December 1997, the two sides issued a joint declaration on building a good-neighborly partnership oriented to the 21st century, which set the direction for the bilateral dialogue.

From 1998-2000, China signed framework documents of bilateral relations and cooperation plans with all ASEAN members. In 2002, the two sides also signed a document on the South China Sea issue and nontraditional security problems.

Their economic cooperation was expanding at that time. The two sides listed agriculture, information technology, communications, human resources development, mutual investment and the development of the Mekong River area as the focus of their cooperation. In November 2002, the two sides signed the Framework Agreement on China-ASEAN Comprehensive Cooperation, launching the process of forming the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area by 2010. This has had a wide impact on the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

IV. 2003-06: Setting up and consolidating a strategic partnership

At the end of 2002, China came up with the development target of building a well-off society and a foreign policy of treating neighbors with good will and as partners. In 2003, ASEAN drew a blueprint to create the ASEAN Community. The similar development targets provided the possibility to further enhance bilateral relations.

In October 2003, China joined the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, becoming the first non-ASEAN signatory to the treaty, which directly pushed forward India, Japan and Russia’s accession to the treaty.

The two sides also signed the Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, and thus China became the first strategic partner of ASEAN; ASEAN also became the first regional organization to maintain a strategic partnership with China.

All ASEAN members unanimously recognized China’s full market economy status in September 2004. The process to implement the Framework Agreement on China-ASEAN Comprehensive Cooperation has been moving ahead smoothly. In November 2004, the two sides signed the Agreement on Trade in Goods. At the same time, China announced that it would expand the range of preferential treatment to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Apart from this, the strategic partnership between the two sides is also manifested in their joint efforts to deal with natural disasters and emergencies. Since 2003, China and ASEAN members have encountered some major problems such as SARS, bird flu and the tsunami, and the two sides have cooperated in disaster relief and disease prevention measures. As a result, the strategic partnership between the two sides has been strengthened.