China’s Li Qiang urges Malaysia to safeguard free trade and multilateral ideals

SCMP | May 26, 2025, 11:13 p.m. | Original

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday urged Asean and Gulf state leaders to increase cooperation with Beijing, his call coming at a time when China is seeking to strengthen global economic ties amid intractable trade tensions with the US.

Addressing the inaugural summit involving China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Li said that the three sides could create a “vibrant economic circle” through deeper exchanges to benefit each nation as well as global development.

“We should firmly grasp this historical opportunity, continuously enrich the power of trilateral cooperation, and strive to create a model of global cooperation and development,” he said in his opening remarks at the event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Li also called for greater regional development and the building of a “large shared market”, where resources, technologies and talent flowed more efficiently and where there was “freer and more convenient trade and investment”.

China, he said, was willing to deepen strategic alignment and strengthen the coordination of macroeconomic policies with Asean and GCC countries on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment.

The six GCC states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while Asean’s 10 members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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