Xi Jinping calls for closer China-Asean trade ties to avoid the ‘law of the jungle’
Xi told Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim Beijing was ready to upgrade its free-deal with the bloc in the face of Trump tariffs
He said Beijing was ready to upgrade the free-trade zone between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and – in an apparent reference to Donald Trump’s tariffs – called for cooperation to respond “the law of the jungle with Asian values of peace, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, and responding to the unstable and uncertain world with a stable and certain Asia.”
Xi, who is also visiting Vietnam and Cambodia this week as he courts neighbouring countries, also said China and Malaysia should resist foreign intervention and improve cooperation in areas such as security and law enforcement as well as economically, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The two sides also signed more than 30 agreements covering a wide range of areas, ranging from the digital economy, service industries and artificial intelligence to railways following the meeting.
Meanwhile Anwar, whose country holds Asean’s rotating chairmanship this year, said the bloc would not endorse any unilateral tariffs.
At a dinner following the talks, Xi said the pair had reached “a number of important common understandings on taking our broad cooperation to greater depth in the face of shocks to the global order and economic globalisation,” according to Reuters.