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Chinese Premier Li Zheng has made a trip to Southeast Asia this week for his dark first summit, where ASEAN, China and the Gulf states aim to prove that one plus one plus one is greater than three.
Welcome to Road Today, the panel discussion with me, Goanna, in Beijing.
Speaking at talks in Kuala Lumpur, Chinese Premier Li Chiang said, the launch of the new forum that groups China, the 10 -member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the six -member Gulf Cooperation Council, marked a major innovation in regional economic cooperation amid complex changes in the international landscape.
He also said China is ready to deepen strategic alignment with ASEAN and the GCC, enhance coordination of macroeconomic policies and strengthen collaboration in industrial specialization.
Experts believe the summit signals a broader trend of countries working together to mitigate the negative impact of Washington's tariff push and may lay the groundwork for closer economic and strategic ties among the three sides.
To delve into this emerging trilateral cooperation and its broader implications, we are joined by Dr. Li Peimai, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the International Islamic University Malaysia.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you so much Anna for having me.
Dr. Rongying, Chair Professor with the School of International Studies at Sichuan University.
Welcome to our show.
Thank you for having me.
Dr. Zhang Mi, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Great to have you again.
Thank you. So first things first, I'm delighted to start today's conversation with Dr. Li, who's joining us from the very city where the summit happened, Kuala Lumpur.
What was the atmosphere like in the city during the summit?
How were people in policy circles or on campus talking about this?
Well, I can say that the summit was a success because it was very well promoted.
Throughout the city of Kuala Lumpur, you can see sign boards that promote the summit, which are very visible.
Additionally, you will see broadcast and written news coverage of the summit.
So it definitely garnered a lot of attention in both policy circles and also academic circles.
And for academic circles, it was a busy time for some academics as they went on live show to discuss the Summit.
And for policy makers besides attending the Summit for those very high -level leaders, there are other policy makers who are also attending other events that make frequent reference to that Summit.
Even the public, because how well it was promoted, the public was also aware that many high -level leaders were attending the Summit.
So, I think this was a very good and very optimistic Summit.
Of course. Malaysia has long been seen as a bridge between East and West, between Islamic countries and Asia.
So I am curious, Dr. Lee, as a scholar based in Malaysia, how do you see your country's role in hosting such a high profile first of its kind events?
Right. And now you are right to point out that we are proud that we often say that Malaysia would act as a bridge between China and also the Muslim world.
especially for this summit, it's between China, GCC and ASEAN.
Right. So I think it's our honor to be able to host this kind of high level summit.
Malaysia actually demonstrates to the world that middle power country can have the convening power.
I'm also, of course, pleased that Malaysia's diplomacy is effective.
When high level leaders from GCC and China attended a summit, it boosted Malaysia's role as ASEAN chair this year, which is very important Malaysia because we emphasize a lot on how effective we can be as an ASEAN chair.
So Malaysian leaders really value their willingness to come together.
Dr. Lee, one last question from you on this part.
Did anything about the Summit stand out to you on a personal level, something that perhaps made you think, wow, this is history in the making?
Well, I guess it was the economic potential that this trilateral partnership could bring to the region.
These three parties itself have a combined economic skill that now reaches nearly 25 trillion dollars and they have a very large population exceeding two billion people.
So from my perspective, I think we see this as a defining moment for ASEAN to reshape the global order.
And also some scholars may argue that the global south moment has arrived.
Thanks, Dr. Lee, that's a great ground level view from Malaysia.
So let's zoom out a little now and bring our other two guests.
Dr. Rong, what's your take on this?
Big summits happen all the time, right?
But what set this one apart?
Indeed, I think big summits taking place every time.
And there are so many sort of bilateral, trilateral, quadrilateral, whatever.
Summits or meetings, mechanisms like that.
But I think this mechanism, this platform means a lot for the three sides.
But let me first of all, congratulate Malaysia, the host, and ASEAN in general for their creativity.
Make it possible. Make it happen.
I think this is indeed a creative way to promote regional economic cooperation and integration.
Secondly, I think demonstrate the creativeness of ASEAN's diplomacy, which I think once again highlights the centrality of ASEAN in bringing and its partners and friends to work together to commonly or jointly address the challenges problems we're having, both internally and externally.
And also I think to translate or turn these challenges for opportunities through cooperation and collaboration.
Lastly, I guess it is also kind of a demonstration of commitment of China in supporting ASEAN, supporting Malaysia's diplomacy.
But more importantly, I think kind of example of China's commitment to working with its partners, both in ASEAN and Gulf, for win -win cooperation through the implementing that vision of building a community with a shared future.
That is very much, I think, demonstrated by the importance of the Chinese government that has been attached by sending premier.
And also, I think, everyone follows this statement by Premier Li Chang, and he put forward many important ideas on how to follow through this mechanism, this platform, will be successful.
I think this is indeed something three of us ASEAN, China and GOLF would have to congratulate for such a successful initiative.
Indeed. Dr. Zhou, what do you think makes this gathering unique or significant at this moment in time.
Well, I agree with the experts that what is, you know, facing many challenges?
I think that is one of the ideas we have to mention.
We were discussing about the possible of collaboration while the world is under uncertainty because of the protect mechanism.
And no matter where it come from, no matter where it is, I think their countries are really trying to provide a better mechanism to assure that enterprises can do this as Europe, maybe not as the past, but they want to stabilize the environment and try to give them more confidence in collaboration.
Well, GCC, ASEAN, and China, we are actually, all of us are just in the developing stage, so many of those countries are trying to develop our society by better connections.
I think this mechanism has provided us with some possible space to discuss about how can we achieve our goals.
Like China and ASEAN, and China and the Gulf countries, we have a long -term collaboration, but in different ways.
For China and ASEAN, I think that both of us are trying to improve the connections in manufacturing, infrastructure, and also something to do with the trade.
With China and the Gulf countries, we are doing more on the infrastructure, cooperation, energies, or other kind of culture exchange.
So, for this platform, it provides us, for three of us to discuss what we can do together.
I think that is a very important milestone opportunity for all of us to try to discuss about the possible mechanism to protect the interests of the people and also try to reduce the impact from the outer -side world.
Before we move to the nexus sector, there is a question for all three of you.
What's the strategic value of inviting the Gulf countries into this China -Asean Equation?
and what do each of these three sides can gain from this cooperation?
Dr. Zhou, would you like to start?
What's China hoping to achieve through this new framework?
Yeah, for me, I think the most important thing is that all of our three partners are having different advantages and also disadvantages.
So this platform is giving us some possible ways for discussing about the collaboration and also cooperation in this world.
So this is very important for us to find out what we can do in the nowadays stages.
But another possible is about how can we do more on the innovation areas that is what we need to discuss in the future.
Dr. Rong, what's your take on the strategic value in bringing the Gulf countries into the fold and what do each of these three sides gain?
Well, I think when we look at the Gulf, the six states, one naturally would think about the features, the characteristics, both are in terms of geopolitics and also geoeconomics.
Gulf, the sixth state, I think they are very ritually indulted with energy, right?
So they are supplier of energy.
While in the meantime, I think they have historically developed a very close relationship with the West and the United States in particular.
We all remember clearly the recent visit by President Trump.
But again, I think in the past decade, we have seen that the Gulf has adopted a kind of a look east, or strengthened its engagement with the east. With China, certainly very much important.
We have seen that China and the Gulf politically, they have reached a new kind of agreement for a vision to building a community of shared future for a new era, and economically, I think, China and the Gulf have worked very closely for the past. I think negotiations for a free trade, 11 rounds have taken place in more than 20 years.
So that's a very advantageous stage.
And culturally, or in terms of civilizational dialogues changes, I mean, the three sides have their own uniqueness.
So it is only natural.
and also I think to think about the complementarity, potentiality of that cooperation in a context where they are quite different.
So divergences, but I think that also creates a lot of potentialities and because of the complementarity.
And this is now the three sides, the three parties decided to sit together to address, to look at ways to address the common challenges arising outside world because of the changing geopolitical situation the landscape and most recently I think because of the global tariff war by the Trump administration.
So I think the significance or the strategic significance arise not around the strategic, per se, rather on the very fact that the three sides agreed or see the importance and most importantly, decided to work together to find ways to address their common challenges.
And what would they begin?
I think three of them began in a way that is win -win -win cooperation.
And the region we're talking about, Asia and beyond, I think we're going to win by that formula, we call one plus one plus one would be larger than three by an example, despite the differences and despite their history, they can work together.
And last but not least, I think we're talking about the history and the matter of fact historically and culturally, The three sides have been very close, closely interacteed, dating back to more than 200 years.
As a matter of fact, the Chinese side has put forward one of the major areas where the three sides can work together and should promote dialogue based on mutual respect and mutual understanding.
Yes, the three sides are highly complimentary in many aspects.
Dr. Lee, turning to you, how important do you think it is strategically to bring together the Gulf nations, China, and ASEAN, and what's ASEAN's expectations on the other two partners?
Well, before I start answering the questions, I want to make reference to what Prof Fong said earlier for his acknowledgement of Malaysia's role in organizing the summit.
I think for Malaysia as a metal power, we really appreciate we're being recognized internationally for our role in bringing this trilateral partnership together.
So going back to Anna's question, I think what Prof Rong and also Dr Chao has mentioned their economy will actually be highly divergent but despite that, they do not actually need to have competing interests but rather it can be complementing interests.
Like I say, These China, ASEAN and also GOLF countries, they are the leaders in different areas.
For China, they're known as a leader in emerging sectors like green economy, digital economy, and A .I.
While GOLF countries, they're very oil rich, right?
But at the same time, they want to transition to green and sustainable development because they understand that there's one point or there's a moment where the oil would be, you know, gone forever in the world.
So they're wanting, you know, they're embracing the global trend moving towards a greener and sustainable development.
So for us and our expectation is that we are a region, there is a new infrastructure project.
And therefore, you know, all of which, GCC countries, they can actually invest in Malaysia.
And of course, China can actually provide advice, expertise in terms of those emerging sectors.
Dr. Li, you specialized in political science and Malaysia's role in the regional affairs.
How do you see this new trilateral model complementing existing groupings like the RCEP or the BRI?
Well, I think in a way there is potential.
Through this partnership, I believe that China can promote more environmentally -friendly and high -quality BRI projects, and with the rich GCC countries serving as one of the key funding partners.
And of course it will be very good for ASEAN countries because ASEAN countries were still in need of infrastructure development.
So we will appreciate that there are more green and quality BRI projects being rolled out in our region.
Of course in terms of ARCEP, as of now, GCC might not be able to be part of ARCEP because they do not have a free trade agreement with ASEAN.
So unless there is no more discussions in the longer term, that they want to have ASEAN and also GCC free trade agreement, then there is only possibility for asset to include GCC.
Dr. Zhou, do you think this trilateral model could evolve into something more institutionalized, like a permanent secretariat or even a formal platform like RCEP?
Well, it is possible in my understanding that we can discuss some of the mechanisms that can assure that cooperation between or among these three partners can be continued.
We know that there are several kinds of different actions, including the regional trade agreements or some other kind of mechanism, but it is even more possible for us to discuss some areas of cooperation along the supply chains.
As we know, the GCC countries really are good at providing different kinds of opportunities for infrastructure and energy -related businesses while Adyen are able to produce more things to support manufacturing.
So as for one example, we know that GCC countries are also trying to diversify its energy and are trying to use more solar panels and wind turbines and are trying to do more with water.
I think that is something that other countries are capable of.
They are able to produce solar panels with a very preferable and kind of competitive price and solutions while China is also an important supplier of the technology and also the experience of launching those projects.
So, for all of us, we can do more to improve the supply chain, the new energy -related supply chains, corporations as a mechanism.
Well, there may be other issues we can discuss about the tariffs, about the so -called non -tariff measures.
We can do it unilaterally.
We don't have to form a package of the free trade agreements among us before we are going to do that, like what China is now doing to open our markets unilaterally to some other countries for the visa -free mechanisms. So if the market really needs more confidence, really needs some mechanism, I think that for all of us, we can do more to improve the institutional arrangement, as you mentioned.
Dr. Han, what's your take?
Because this trilateral setup also comes at a time when the United States is pushing forward with this so -called Indo -Pacific Economic Framework, although that initiative seems to have faded from the spotlight as Washington's ongoing tariff battles against the world.
But that said, we still see some Western media drawing comparisons between these two how do you view such a comparison?
Well I don't think it's fair to compare with this new creative mechanism with IPEF which is I think a kind of a mechanism or initiative meant to contain China and the so -called Indo -Pacific strategy and I just doubt that was the coming of the Trump administration the fate of that so -called IPEF, where it would be going.
Having said that, I think it is true that mechanisms like this one, for the success of that, would have to take into account of the different divergences, while in the meantime, working together to ensure the complementarities arising from the divergences will help.
I think at the initial stage, or at this stage, focusing on regional economic cooperation while taking into account of the need for closer political consultations, cultural exchanges are very much important.
So the second thing I believe is the three sides have to work together to identify what are the areas where the three sides will work together to ensure that idea of one plus one plus one will be larger than three?
For me, I think as we have seen the leaders at the summit, the leaders have put forward some ideas, like to facilitate connectivity is both in hardware, if I can say.
So we're talking about ports.
We're talking about others.
But also in terms, I mean, electricity is power, things like that.
But also I think for me is very much important.
The soft part, so we're talking about rules, regulations, we're talking about the payment system and so and so forth.
That will, of course, come in a gradual way, but that is, I think, what makes this mechanism different from that.
Last thing I believe is that we have to make sure this mechanism is for cooperation, is not meant to aim at a third or fourth parties.
So it is an open, inclusive mechanism.
In other words, I think the suicide, while they support or join this mechanism, they are looking for opportunities so there are more options rather than forging a kind of group aimed at certain parties.
That is very much important because we are talking about so many countries and even within I think ASEAN and GOLF there are naturally a different priorities, different interests.
Dr. Li anything to add?
How do you rate the differences between the China -ASEAN -GCC model and the US -led Indo -Pacific Economic Framework.
You know, I personally think that it's not fair to make that comparison as what Professor Rong and so Dr. Joe Mi has said.
I think there are very two very different models.
First of all, if you look at the ASAN China GCC model, it's more based on inter -regional block cooperation.
It knows so much about country -based cooperation.
So for IPATH, Indo -Pacific Economic Framework, it's more like country -based cooperation and most importantly, IPATH, it does not include all ASEAN members.
So you can see that in terms of membership, it was quite selective.
And of course, when we talk about IPATH, we know this is US -led, so this is not like all these partners come together, and then we think that we will sit on an equal basis and discuss what a kind of corporations that can have. It's more of U .S.-led and the purpose is basically, as Professor Rong said, is to exclude China, to contain China by building an alternative supply chain which is not the basis of ASEAN -China -GCC model.
As both panelists rightly say, it's more an inclusive model and although it's proposed by ASEAN, but then the three sides are equal and then they sit down and then they talk about what are the potentials of corporations.
And of course now, because this ASEAN China GCC model is new and it's still informal, unlike IPATH, but I believe that there are a lot more potential, like what a professor and Dr. Zhou mentioned, there are, like corporations, probably imports and electricity, and digital payment systems. and I just want to bring in that.
In fact, you know, this this three trilateral corporations, they have potential for Islamic finance and hala industry because this market is actually growing.
So like in Malaysia, we are actually a leader in the hala industry.
We also are a leader in Islamic finance and therefore China I think they are trying to explore the potential of this Islamic finance, but yet the development is slow.
So on this part, I think Malaysia can actually offer some of the advice on how to expand on this one.
Thanks panellists! Still ahead, how will these plans move from paper to practice?
And can this cooperation model help stabilize global supply and promote inclusive development.
This is Road Today, stay with us.
Welcome back to Road Today, I'm your host, Ge Anh.
we've been discussing the first ever China -ASEAN -GCC summit, a new platform that may reshape the landscape of regional and global cooperation.
We are joined today by Dr. Li Peimai, assistant professor of political science at the International Islamic University, Malaysia.
Dr. Rongyin, chair professor with the School of International Studies at Sichuan University.
Dr. Jiao Mi, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
So let's dive back in.
As you all mentioned earlier, many believe this summit reflects a broader trend of countries worldwide seeking to navigate around the disruptions caused by Washington's tariff policies.
Dr. Lee, do you see this cooperation model is a response to that?
Well, I would say that the proposal actually to have the summit came much earlier than the U .S. liberation day, but you are right to say that the summit itself is so important to navigate all the global uncertain discourse by the Washington policies, particularly its tariff policies, but also it reflects something more important, which is there is actually the growing trend toward shaping multi -polarity, which allows diversity.
So, in the past, actually, there were a lot of dissatisfaction with the so -called US -led global order, which intensified especially after the Cold War, when the US they go forth this kind of interventionist policy interfering in Middle East politics in Afghanistan, in Iraq.
So there was dissatisfaction also among the Muslim world, particularly on the Palestinian issue.
But at that moment, after the Cold War, the US still remains as the most powerful and economically strong country.
So, there are very limited and very restricted opportunities for other countries, particularly those developing countries to try to reshape the order.
But this time around is a bit different, I think.
The US actually lost credibility.
Of course the credibility was severely undermined because of the tariff policy of the US and also how it has treated its allies and partners.
So the policies are not only targeted at, you know, countries that are hostile to the US, but basically it's targeted at any countries, so they are very protectionist and also nationalist policies cause the US to lose its allies and partners.
So, coming to this summit, I think for other countries, there is a realization that it will make more sense for countries to foster relationship with more predictable partners rather than relying on traditional partners like the US, which the policy is like free filtering within the East. Dr. Zhou, how do you assess this vision in a time of growing protectionism and we've in growing interest among developing economies in building their own partnerships outside the traditional Western frameworks.
So, in your opinion, why do you think this is happening now?
Well, in my understanding, they have to do that because under the original mechanism, which was set out by the Western countries, they have fulfilled their commitment.
I mean, for the developing countries, they have fulfilled their commitment of opening up their market and lowering their tariffs.
but now they are faced by more challenges.
I think that is some very unreasonable challenges that put by the United States and, you know, it is a kind of over requirement by the United States.
So what can they do?
I mean, there are so many companies in their countries, in the developing countries.
They want to continue with their businesses, so they want to have a more stable environment, like, you know, when the companies want to prepare for the manufacturing.
they have to understand and they have to know what would be the demand of the market in the coming months.
So without the knowledge of knowing that, they may not be able to have prepared some stock in the manufacturing.
So they have to understand the market and the cooperation among this global south countries are really are based on the similar ideas of opening up and trying to stabilize the global supply chains.
Well maybe they are not so experienced in doing that for many of developing countries but they have the willingness to provide a better support to the market, to the consumer, and the manufacturing.
I think that based on this platform, like the trilateral platforms between China and the Gulf countries, we can share our experiences with each other.
Maybe it's not always from China but we can share our experiences together.
And these experiences can be used to design a better and more transparent and open system for the companies for the market to react, so this is a really important time for us to try to make a better confidence for the market and they will know what will happen and this kind of messages well received by this market.
Dr. Zhou primarily highlighted a number of pressing challenges during his remarks from intensifying geopolitical tensions and confrontation to the rise of protectionism and unilateralism and growing force toward decoupling, supply chain disruptions and building barriers, against this back job.
He also called this new trilateral format a major innovation in regional economic cooperation.
What do you think this innovation really means in practice?
Well, in practice, this kind of idea is not coming from just outside of our packages for the companies, for the governments in these regions, we do not force them to form this kind of mechanism.
I think that is the first step because the three parties are trying to give some platform for the discussion of the future work we can do.
Well, based on this mechanism, I think that there will be several different regions and also the vertical sectors.
They can discuss together about what they can do based on this platform.
So the innovation means that it's really our institutional innovations to arrange and give a more predicted environment for the cooperation for the market.
Well, the second I would like to say about the innovation, because some of these topics, some of these topics that they have discussed are just some very new areas, emerging areas, like the digital economy, like the green transitions of energy.
I think these kinds of new areas have not uniformed routines or international principles that have been reached before.
So the discussion about the possibilities for the innovative technology and also the application of those technologies can be very well accepted by the market.
So based on these innovations, I think that the market will have more energy and that they have the awareness to join these kind of discussions.
As we know that GCC countries they do have a lot of capital and many of these capitals are in the form of the sovereign band.
So they want more opportunities, they want to know the possible future.
With the cooperation among the three parties, this capital can be better used in the different areas of the innovation.
I think that is definitely what other countries and the China want to have. Well, from another side, China's technology of the innovation areas and at the end the ability to provide better scenarios of the application of technology technology can also be integrated.
So we have many complementary ways to realize those innovations and make those companies benefit from this cooperation.
Dr. Zhou, one point primarily emphasized was industrial specialization.
So how do you interpret this concept?
What does it suggest about the action plans we might expect next?
My understanding is that there are several areas of different competition mode.
The first one is that in the horizontal position that many companies are doing a similar stage of the development.
So they will try to explore their market in the world.
In this regard, how can we try to give the more information to the companies are really important.
without this information, they will try to make the capacities as large as they can.
So we need to have some mechanism to share the enterprises with enough information about the markets.
But the second kind of corporation or different ways of industries development is about the vertical collaboration.
So in this more to help that different parties can do better to maximize their abilities and advantages in coping with each other that will provide even stronger collaboration for those parties and they can develop the much better you know products or solutions even to provide for the rest of the world.
So in my understanding that you know in such a kind of chaos of the protectionism the world is under pressure, the global supply chains and industrial chains are in the process of reconstruction.
So we can lead, we can try to help the market to have a better path for re -industrialization or rebalance in such a kind of uncertain conditions.
I think that is really helpful and important for all of our three parties because all of us are depending too much on the manufacturing, we do not want to drain the market order, we want to keep it in the good conditions.
Dr. Lee, what's your take?
What's your vision on the new format between China, ASEAN and Gulf states?
What are some concrete opportunities that could emerge from this collaboration, the meeting creating global uncertainties?
Well, first of all, I think this summit, this trilateral summit, is a result of Malaysia's creative diplomacy, This is quite an alien concept in Malaysia but this has been used by Anwar in many of these speeches.
So I guess under so many emerging challenges, we just need to be creative and innovative.
So in the sense of what can this submit actually brings, I think there is a lot of things that we can expect.
The central idea about why we want to have this submit and bringing different parties together is because we want to maintain a free trade and multilateral trading system, right.
So which is beneficial for all.
So I think there needs to be commitment from all these sides, to work together, to create a more conducive versus environment for trade.
So basically, I think there's a lot more that we can expect from this summit concrete ones, like I say, in terms of AI, so we say in terms of AI, then how does China as a global leader in AI can help.
I think one of the things that China can help is training our work talent.
Basically, in Malaysia, if we want to adopt AI, in ASEAN, we want to adopt AI very quickly, so we need to have the experts.
We need to have the talents on how to do it.
I think recently, Malaysia, we have this private enterprises working closely with China's enterprises in rolling out AI tech deep -sea in our public service, public civil service.
So this is one of the examples of how countries can work together.
So now, we GCC into the equation.
So probably I was thinking that they can have a more formalized and institutionalized vocational trading centers for AI with China taking the lead and giving advice on what kind of talents are needed, what kind of skills are needed for countries to successfully adopt AI in their economy.
So in terms of digital economy also, they are like earlier mentioned by Professor Rong, a digital payment system.
I think there's a large potential in it.
ASEAN is really pushing for it.
They want more integration, economic integration among these asset by rolling out this digital payment system and China actually also has been collaborating with with some members on this one.
So now if we can include GCC, so this will mean we can increase trade, we can increase we can increase, you know, many, many other areas of corporations because of how we try to integrate our payment system.
And speaking of that, to Dr. Joe, the three blocks represent, a major chunk of global energy, manufacturing and logistics, right?
How important is this collaboration, you know, to put these three together for global supply chain cooperation in the near future?
Well first of all I would say that the market of these three packages or three parts are really increasing and they are big like the population in all these three areas is about I think it's about at least 30 % or even more around the total you know population of the world.
And the second, I think that they are providing the most important supply of the manufacturing products, including the electronics, also the vehicles, and some of them are together to do with transportation.
And the third advantage of these are the energy that they are providing the world.
So based on these facts, I would say they are the important elements that when we are looking at the industry's development, if you are looking back, you can find that the manufacturing is coming from the steel and the raw materials.
So these areas have the raw materials.
They have the ability to make the raw materials into the manufacturer products and they have the ability to transfer or supply those products to the world market.
So if these parts are able to keep stable, I would say that the world is gaining its strength of keeping stable.
So I would say that the cooperation among these three areas is really important.
They are not just providing the world with enough supply of manufacturing products and also agricultural products.
But also I think that they are trying to give the world more confident that without the interperation of some of these main countries in the world, we can still try to be more self -sufficient.
That is important. We can do more to deal with uncertainties by better mechanism coordination, no matter from the real term or from the financial areas, something to do with currencies.
I believe that these corporations are really giving the world more confidence and are making some good examples.
Dr. Rong, alongside trade and industry, policy coordination was another major theme during the summit, primarily talking about aligning macroeconomic policies.
But what does that look like in practice, especially across such diverse economies?
Well, that is a very important area where I think at least from the Chinese perspective that would become a very important one for trilateral collaboration.
Definitely, I think at the policy level, the policy dialogue on how the three sides manage their economy and how they can learn from each other in terms of the experiences and the lessons.
That is again equally important, but most importantly, I think coming up common or shared the sort of positions in VDAV, the trends of unilateralism and also I think the problems arising from Trump administration and in particular that has always been very much important for collaboration.
But I think I would just add a few points related to the specific area of cooperation.
I think energy has much been talked about, that is very much important.
And energy transition or green energy are very much important, and particularly in the context of how to manage the climate changes.
And I think maritime issues, the blue economy is also very much important.
But all these areas are very much in a way that at the suicide have to work together jointly through joint efforts in terms of not only the available technologies that we have had, but more importantly to develop new technologies and also in this context, the new business opportunities are rising.
So that's why we're at the business community should bring in, bring on board. And it is very important and fortunate and see that along with the summit we have also have a business economic forum which I can again I see a very huge enthusiasm and not only I think the three parts but also the other potential investors would like to explore the business opportunities of cooperation.
Dr. Rong, beyond economics, the summit also touched on values, Primarily, it's spoken of building a model of cross -civilization integration, rooted in peace, openness, and inclusiveness, values closely tied to Asia's cultural traditions.
What makes this vision especially relevant today?
And how might it differ from Western -led models of global engagement?
I think it is true, as we have seen, that these three sides have a long history, great civilizations and they all would like to pursue their own development in line with their own conditions.
And for that I think they are very proud of their values and they are very proud of their own civilization.
But in the meantime, we look at Asia over the past decades of interactions historically culture.
We've always been treating each other as equals, we've being treasure peace cooperation in a way that helps us to achieve what we are.
So that openness, that inclusivity is very much important, which I think again makes a sharp contrast of the West -dominated sort of approach, or the US -led approach that they would like to push for democratization, these understandings, these shared thinkings were going to play a very important role to make sure that the cooperation will be on the equal and inclusive and mutually sort of way.
Dr. Lee would you like to weigh in because one interesting example of this vision is the promotion of Confucian Islamic dialogue highlighted during this high level meetings between China and Malaysia, what's your take on the dialogue?
What kind of sparks do you think a connection like this could ignite?
Well actually Malaysia and China have engaged in Confucian Islamic dialogue in various forms since the 1990s.
The engagement for now has been more than 30 years and responsible institutes like International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization under my university International Islamic University Malaysia, they actually responsible for promoting inter -civilisational engagement, so we can see that there has been enduring commitment to help foster such dialogues, and now that this has been an urge to deepen or promote more of this kind of dialogue between Malaysia and China, shows how important it is to appreciate each other's civilization and to learn.
So, for example, you know, the civilizations have a long history for China, thousands of history, so we can look at how, you know, China particularly has Confucian values.
What can we learn from it?
I mean, Confucian values talks about also governance, right, and how does that compare to Islamic governance, and is there some similarities that we can derive from it, and what are the lessons that we can derive from it.
So this kind of, you know, dialogue can further deepen the inter -civilisation understanding and foster deeper trust between both countries.
So I believe that from such dialogue, you know, people to people, engagement, people to people exchanges will be of course growing.
And in fact, in last month, I mean in fact you know today we want to deeper in the inter -civilisation understanding.
And what we did was Malaysia and China actually sign a memorandum of understanding to formalise the commitment to fostering Confucian Islamic dialogue.
So with the MOUs, I'm expecting that we can see more of the dialogues, exhibitions and translation of words from Confucian Islamic scholars and things like that to happen.
Dr Joo, from your perspective, How might such a civilizational approach help build deeper mutual trust, not just diplomatically, but across business and people -to -people exchanges?
Well, we know that everything has to be started from people.
Actually, no matter how strong the government is, I think that the final decision power should come from this people.
So the exchange of these people's ideas about their attitudes towards the world, and their understanding about how can the technology that should be used is very important.
Like if we're looking at some of the new mode of development, like for the e -commerce, I think that for different countries, they have the different rules and they have the different attitudes.
But if you're looking at consumers' attitudes and also the suppliers' attitudes, you may know more about what is really needed by the market.
So we have to say that when the technology is developing, there are so many uncertainties, and there will be some shocks to the traditional ways of doing business.
But we have to respect that technology development.
So have a better exchange of the ideas from different civilizations could help us to speed up this process and trying to reduce the cost that we were undertaking during the process of transfer.
Well, another kind of stabilization is not only about the real things, we have to respect the cultural products, like what we have included in the RSAP, that the cultural designs of a certain performance of the folk designs of the closest in Southeast Asia are respected as intellectual property rights.
So we need to understand the requirement from different parts and trying to make that more accountable, or kind of things that we can do more to support in the regimes of better rules and the mechanism.
And this is very important that we have to respect the civilization, not just in the history, but also looking forward to the future.
As we wrap up, I want to get a quick final thought from each of you.
So looking at this summit, and its broader context, what are your closing reflections on today's topic, and what's your biggest hope or concern moving forward?
Doctor Lee, would you like to start?
I think looking at the submit, I am actually very optimistic about this trilateral partnership.
Because this partnership has a demonstration effect.
So it's telling the world, the economies, despite their diversity, they could find ways to complement each other.
So, countries doesn't have to go into competing with one another to grow and stay true corporations, we can actually make the world a better place.
Of course, this submit also may serve as an inspiration for other countries or regional blocs to also explore new forms of partnership.
It also means that for me, I think now is the time for Global South to be more confident in charting their own path.
Dr. Long, what are your thoughts on this?
Well yeah, I agree with Dr. Lee's remarks.
I think that we have to work hard and to maintain the momentum by continuously explore areas for practical corporations, applications of the principles, understanding the reach and And more importantly, I think, add more substance of this kind of cooperation by implementing the agreement or consensus that was reached.
Last but not least, I believe that the results have to be deliverable in a way that bring the more stakeholders, not only the business community, big and small, but also I think the general public so that their mechanism will be on a very steady and solid sort of foundation.
Dr. Zhou, what's your closing reflection?
Well, yeah, I would say that maybe it is true that the physical distance among our three parties are not being shortened just by this forum but the internal distance between the peoples are really closer compared with before.
So we have to speed up the cooperation on the areas that all of us are agreed to develop and trying to speed up the logistics and giving more attention for the areas that all of us want to develop and that is definitely what we can do and will benefit all of us.
Thank you so much for your time and insights today.
This has been a fascinating deep dive into a summit that might just shape the next decade of regional cooperation.
Dr. Li Pei -mei, assistant professor of political science at the International Islamic University Malaysia, Dr. Rongying, chair professor with the School of International Studies at Sichuan University, and Dr. Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
That's all the time for this edition of World Today with me, Ge Anna.
Thank you so much for listening, bye for now.
