Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends a special summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN Plus Three countries or 10+3) on COVID-19 via video link in Beijing, capital of China, April 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN Plus Three or APT) to pool efforts in clinching an early victory against COVID-19 in East Asia.
Li made the remarks in Beijing while attending a special summit of the ASEAN Plus Three on COVID-19 via video link.
Saying that the spread of COVID-19 is life-threatening and puts the global economy under severe strain, Li called on APT countries to act with greater synergy and common purpose and to send a message of partnership, solidarity and mutual assistance among East Asian countries to work for an early victory against COVID-19 in East Asia.
"The battle against COVID-19 has made us more aware that we are in a community with a shared future," Li said.
He called on APT countries to make all-out efforts to jointly curb the spread of COVID-19.
China will provide another 100 million face masks, 10 million protective suits and other urgently needed medical supplies to ASEAN countries as grant assistance and via commercial channels, he said.
Li said China proposes leveraging the complementarity in medical supplies and industrial chains of APT countries to more effectively tackle emergencies.
China supports ASEAN in setting up a COVID-19 ASEAN response fund, and will provide necessary support through the ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund and APT Cooperation Fund, said Li, noting that China suggests an APT reserve of essential medical supplies be established to make responses faster and emergency supplies more readily available.
APT countries should support the World Health Organization playing a leading role and work together to safeguard regional and global public health, Li said.
On restoring economic development, Li proposed opening a "fast-track lane" for essential personnel on urgent visits in the fields of commerce, logistics, production and technological services among APT countries.
The fast-track lane should be opened with all the necessary control measures in place, said Li, noting that this will be conducive to maintaining the necessary flow of people and goods and stabilizing the industrial and supply chains.
Li pointed out that the APT countries need to leverage their strengths in economic complementarity and strong business ties to further ease tariffs, eliminate barriers, boost the flow of trade and investment, and keep markets open to each other, in an effort to restore growth in East Asia as quickly as possible.
He also suggested making full use of mechanisms such as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization and leveraging the APT Macroeconomic Research Office to strengthen crisis preparedness.
APT countries support the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and other multilateral financial institutions in taking prompt actions to ensure adequate liquidity, he said.
"We welcome the AIIB's proposal of a COVID-19 Recovery Facility with an initial capitalization of 5 billion U.S. dollars," Li said.
Leaders attended the summit agreed that APT countries should show solidarity, coordinate response, enhance exchanges of experience and information and conduct cooperation on medication and vaccine research and development.
They also called for enhanced macro-economic policy coordination to stabilize industrial and supply chains and restore social and economic order gradually.
After the meeting, APT countries issued a joint statement of the summit.
The APT cooperation mechanism was set up in response to the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and then emerged even stronger from the international financial crisis in 2008.
The special summit, chaired by Vietnam in its capacity as ASEAN chair for 2020, is a key get-together for the East Asian region's COVID-19 response taking place after the G20 Extraordinary Virtual Leaders' Summit on COVID-19 on March 26.
Wu Jianghao, director-general of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday's meeting strengthened APT countries' will to coordinate, boosted their confidence in cooperation and identified the direction of cooperation.
"China is encouraged to see the outcomes of the summit," Wu said at a press briefing after the summit, adding that China stands ready to stay in close cooperation with all parties to act on the consensus reached by the leaders, take effective measures and work together to overcome the pandemic and restore economic vitality in the region at an early date. Enditem
