China-ASEAN relations getting mature: Premier Li

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (from left, 5th) and leaders from ASEAN members attend the 19th ASEAN-China Summit in Vientiane, Laos, Sept 7, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

VIENTIANE - China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held the 19th ASEAN-China Summit and commemorated the 25th anniversary of dialogue relations between the two sides here on Wednesday.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and leaders from the 10 ASEAN members attended the summit. Li delivered a speech at the commemorative meeting.

China, as ASEAN's most active cooperation partner, is ASEAN's largest trading partner, while the regional bloc is China's third largest trading partner.

 Li Keqiang said that the relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are getting mature after the two sides established dialogue mechanism 25 years ago.

Apart from economic field, cooperation between China and ASEAN in the past 25 years has yielded significant achievements in various fields. According to Liu Zhenmin, China's vice foreign minister, people-to-people exchanges would be viewed as a new pillar for China-ASEAN cooperation.

The ASEAN opened its 28th and 29th summits here on Tuesday. The summits and related leaders' meetings that run from Tuesday through Thursday also include ASEAN+1 Summits, ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) Summit, and the East Asia Summit.