On July 24, 2025, Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong exchanged views with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, who was visiting China, on China-ASEAN cooperation and other matters.

Sun Weidong stated that amid the current international situation intertwined with changes and chaos, regional countries should unite and cooperate to meet challenges together, jointly safeguard peace, tranquility, development, and prosperity of the region. Regional countries must firmly uphold free trade and the multilateral trading system, promote mutual reinforcement among various free trade arrangements, and resist unilateralism with openness and inclusiveness. Regional countries should carry forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit, respect each other, engage in dialogue and consultation, seek common ground while shelving differences, and jointly maintain the hard-won peace and stability in the region. Regional countries should properly handle the South China Sea issue and foster a new narrative of peace, friendship, and cooperation in the South China Sea. China is willing to work with ASEAN to actively promote East Asian cooperation, continuously advance the development of a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home, and build an even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

Kao Kim Hourn stated that the ASEAN-China cooperation is strategically far-sighted, and the Version 3.0 ASEAN-China Free Trade Area will further enhance the level of economic and trade cooperation between the two sides. The more China develops, the more the region benefits. ASEAN is willing to work with China to firmly uphold the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, accelerate the consultation on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and jointly maintain regional peace and stability. ASEAN looks forward to taking the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership in 2026 as an opportunity to bring bilateral cooperation to new heights and benefit the people of all countries in the region.