The ASEAN Charter, which took effect last December, marks a new stage of the grouping's progress towards a common community and integration, a Chinese diplomat said here on Tuesday.

The Charter provides a key basis for the ASEAN to unroll institutionalized cooperation and handle its external affairs as a whole entity, said Liu Jian, China's Ambassador to Malaysia.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an important regional cooperation organization in Asia, Liu said in an interview with Xinhua.

Since its founding in 1967, the ASEAN has scored significant achievements in enhancing the economic development of its member countries, its integration and its capacity, he said.

The ASEAN has also made important contributions to the regional peace, development and prosperity, he said.

Speaking of the upcoming 14th ASEAN Summit to be held in Thailand, Liu said, it will be an important meeting on the new stage of ASEAN's development.

As a series of key documents about ASEAN's community building and integration are expected to be signed and adopted at the Summit, Liu said that he believed the Summit would make new contributions in speeding up ASEAN's integration process and enhancing ASEAN's ties with its dialogue partners.

China has long-term traditional friendship with all ASEAN countries, and China-ASEAN ties have been growing smoothly since China became a dialogue partner to the ASEAN in 1991, Liu said.

Currently, between China and the ASEAN, strategic partnership has been gaining momentum, mutual trust in the field of politics has been deepening, economic and trade cooperation has been expanding, and social and cultural exchanges are more and more frequent, he said.

The relations between China and the ASEAN are forging ahead dynamically and steadily, he added.

Liu noted that over the past decade or more, China and the ASEAN, as neighbors, have always helped each other earnestly when they encountered problems and difficulties.

Facing the current global economic financial crisis, Liu said that China and the ASEAN will join hands again to tide over the tough time.

The Chinese ambassador also said that Malaysia, as a key member of the ASEAN, has been playing an active role in promoting ASEAN-China ties and cooperation in East Asia.

Malaysia was the first ASEAN country that established diplomatic ties with China, and it was also the first country that invited China to join dialogue with the ASEAN, he said.

Currently, China and Malaysia also has good cooperation and collaboration in pushing ahead China-ASEAN ties and cooperation in East Asia, he said.

On the other hand, Liu said, the development of China-ASEAN ties also provided favorable and convenient environments for the cooperation between the two countries.

The two countries could tap the existing bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to expand their trade and financial cooperation to achieve a win-win situation and boost more win-wins among countries in the region.

Source: xinhua