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Thirty years have passed since ASEAN and China established dialogue relations in 1991. Chinese President Xi Jinping-2020-credited ASEAN-China relationship as “the most successful and vibrant model for cooperation” in the Asia-Pacific region and an exemplary effort to build a community with a shared future for mankind at the opening ceremony of the seventeenth China-ASEAN Expo in November 2020. ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi also commended that ASEAN and China had built up mutual trust, deepened pragmatic cooperation and reinforced the traditional friendship over the 30 years (As of 7 June 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China listed on its website).
Standing on a new historical starting point, both sides are committed to further cooperation on much wider fronts and at a much deeper level. However, against the backdrop of two “new normals”, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and the new type of major-power competition, more wisdom and efforts of ASEAN and China are needed to push forward bilateral relations healthily and sustainably. This chapter aims to offer some insights on the priorities for the 2022 Cambodia’s ASEAN chairmanship and the future of ASEAN-China relations based on taking stock of the 30-year ASEAN-China dialogue relations. It also explores the impact of the “new normal” on ASEAN-China relations.
