ASEAN-China partnership substantive, dynamic: ASEAN secretary-general

The partnership between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China has been substantive and dynamic, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn said in Jakarta, Indonesia.

China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership has sustained a sound development momentum and bilateral cooperation has yielded fruitful results, according to Kao, who always describes the ties with two words - substantive and dynamic.

"If we look at the actual work that had been carried out in more than three decades, the growth, development and transformation of the relationships, cooperation and partnership have indicated that there is a strong momentum, there's a strong dynamism, and there's a lot of substance in the way both sides have been working together over those decades. So that's why I think these two words would capture the essence of the relationship between ASEAN and China," he said in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) aired on Friday.

ASEAN and China have the most number of cooperation mechanisms, which account for almost 20 percent of the total such frameworks that ASEAN has with its 11 official dialog partners.

"Sixty-four mechanisms of cooperation between ASEAN and China cut across the three pillars of ASEAN Community and the ASEAN connectivity. So very wide range. If you look at overall among the eleven dialogue partners, ASEAN and China has [have] the most number of mechanisms," Kao said.

The ASEAN Community comprises three pillars, namely，the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

Talking about the nature of China-ASEAN cooperation, Kao highlighted the significance of joint actions and engagement.

"I think we had to look at facts. I think facts speak for themselves. Number one, there are many levels of cooperation across the different sectors and pillars of the community. And second, the depth of cooperation. So that's where you can see more engagement, more interactions between both sides. And then the day is what we do together, I think that's important," said the general secretary.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery increased by 87 cents, or 1.42 percent, to settle at 62.02 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery gained 1.05 dollars, or 1.6 percent, to settle at 66.52 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.