(VOVWORLD) - Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung on Tuesday called for ASEAN and China to work together to fight COVID-19 and spur a sustainable recovery.
 Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung attends the 27th ASEAN-China Senior Officials’ Consultation (ACSOC) (Photo: Minh Duc/VNA) |
Mr. Dung and other ASEAN senior officials attended the 27th ASEAN-China Senior Officials’ Consultation (ACSOC), held via video conference on Tuesday with Wu Jianghao, China’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs.
ASEAN and China agreed to coordinate activities marking the 30th anniversary of the ASEAN-China dialogue and create a new momentum for their cooperation in all fields. They agreed to strengthen cooperation in the COVID-19 fight, ramp up recovery efforts, boost trade and investment links through effective implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), liberalize trade, and press ahead with digital technology and the digital economy.
ASEAN and China stressed the need to continue their close coordination to fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and strive to build an effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They emphasised the importance of boosting trade and investment, cooperating in sub-regional development, and narrowing development gaps via mechanisms like the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation.
They agreed to organise the Special ASEAN-China Ministers’ Meeting in early June.