KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 – Leaders of China, Southeast Asia and six Arab nations held their first meeting Tuesday in Malaysia to bolster economic cooperation between the three parties, the population of which accounts for one quarter of the world’s, amid global trade tensions over U.S. tariffs.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at the meeting in Kuala Lumpur that his country, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council nations should “set a fine example of opening up across regions.”
“Our markets, if fully connected, will generate even greater space for development,” Li said, referring to China-ASEAN free trade agreement and China-GCC free trade pact, which the Asian superpower and the six Arab countries are trying to reach.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said ASEAN, GCC and China collectively represent a combined gross domestic product of $24.87 trillion, which is growing exponentially, and have a population of approximately 2.15 billion.
“The collective scale offers vast opportunities to synergize our markets, deepen innovation and promote cross-regional investment,” Anwar said.
“I am confident that ASEAN, GCC and China can grow on our unique attributes and shape a future that is more connected,” he added.
The meeting was held as China aims to boost ties with other economies, following a tit-for-tat trade war with the United States that ended in a preliminary deal earlier this month to lower recently imposed tariffs on each other’s imports.
Southeast Asian countries are seeking to diversify their trade partners and reduce reliance on the United States after President Donald Trump announced so-called reciprocal tariffs in April, with duties ranging from 10 percent to 49 percent to be imposed on the 10 members of ASEAN.
The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
According to a draft joint statement of the trilateral summit, obtained by Kyodo News, the three parties recognized that the diversity of their economies “creates new opportunities for greater cross-sectoral trade, investment, and economic collaboration.”
ASEAN and the GCC held their second summit earlier Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur. Leaders of the two regional blocs met for the first time in 2023 in Saudi Arabia, where they agreed to meet every two years.
The ASEAN members as a group represent the world’s fifth-largest economy with a combined GDP of $3.8 trillion, while China remains the bloc’s biggest trading partner with bilateral trade valued at $696.7 billion in 2023, according to a statement from the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office released Monday.
Total trade between ASEAN and the GCC reached $130.7 billion that year, according to the statement.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
