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Malaysia Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- Malaysia Sun
Column: ASEAN and China working together for a prosperous 2045
by Yuan Zhi The recently unveiled ASEAN Community Vision 2045, launched at the 46th ASEAN Summit under the theme "Our Shared Future," embodies the Eastern ideal of collective prosperity. This vision, rooted in the Asian traditions of harmony and mutual progress, resonates with Chinese President Xi Jinping's call for building a community with a shared future for mankind. A PARTNERSHIP OF MUTUAL BENEFIT While some in other parts of world are turning inward, China and ASEAN have been embracing partnership for mutual benefit. For 16 consecutive years, China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner, and ASEAN has held the same position for China over the past five years. President Xi's recent visits to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia have reinforced the time-honored bonds between the Asian nations and underscored China's commitment to strengthening ties with its neighbors for a community with a shared future. THE URGENCY OF ECONOMIC RESILIENCE The global trade landscape is shifting. Average U.S. tariffs on Southeast Asian goods now exceed 30 percent, and supply-chain disruptions have exposed the risks of overreliance on distant and volatile markets. ASEAN's economic future hinges on diversification and regional integration -- areas where China offers unparalleled advantages. As the world's second-largest economy and the top trading nation, China has been a stabilizing force for ASEAN through crises like the 1997-98 Asian financial turmoil and the 2008 global recession. Today, initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative provide ASEAN with infrastructure, technology and trade frameworks to boost self-reliance. THE PATH TO 2045: INNOVATION AND INTEGRATION ASEAN's manufacturing capacity stands to gain from deeper economic integration with China. Its economic resilience will benefit from more trade with China. And ASEAN's ambitions for digital and green transitions align perfectly with China's strengths in AI, renewable energy and e-commerce. Despite U.S. restrictions, China's innovative industry continues to develop at a miraculous speed, as evidenced by breakthroughs such as Deepseek. According to the 2024 Global Innovation Index, the past ten years have witnessed China as one of the economies experiencing the most rapid growth in innovation power. In May, China and 10 ASEAN countries have fully completed negotiations on the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. By modernizing trade rules and expanding cooperation in emerging sectors, China and ASEAN are creating a more dynamic economic future -- one that is more resilient against external shocks. THE "ASIAN MOMENT" IN GLOBALIZATION As Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, globalization is experiencing an "Asian moment" and the world's focus is shifting towards Asia. The inaugural ASEAN-China-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Summit alongside the 46th ASEAN Summit signals the region's rise as a hub of 21st-century multilateralism. ASEAN and China working side by side will create greater resilience, innovation and shared prosperity -- essential ingredients for realizing Community Vision 2045. Editor's note: The author is a commentator on international affairs based in Kuala Lumpur. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.
The Star
4 days ago
- Health
- The Star
We must move beyond silos for the planet's health
AT the 46th Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur in May 2025, regional leaders adopted 'Asean 2045: Our Shared Future' – a comprehensive vision for the region's development over the next two decades. It is a carefully crafted document that reflects a welcome sense of ambition and confidence. But even as it aspires to build a more 'resilient, innovative, dynamic, and people-centred Asean', it leaves important questions unanswered about the foundations upon which such aspirations rest. Having spent much of my career working on regional and global challenges, and as a firm believer in the importance of international and regional cooperation, I recognise the value of vision-setting. It galvanises collective effort. It signals priorities. It invites us to imagine a future worth striving for. But the real measure of such a vision lies not in its length or elegance, but in its capacity to reckon with complexity, to centre people meaningfully, and to commit to structural change. On these fronts, 'Our Shared Future' offers both promise – and pause. The document's most visible structural feature is its division into four strategic pillars: political-security, economic, sociocultural, and connectivity. While this reflects Asean's established architecture, it is increasingly out of step with the interlinked challenges we face today. Issues such as climate change, pandemic preparedness, digital governance, and rising inequality do not respect institutional boundaries. Yet 'Our Shared Future' gestures only briefly towards integrated, cross-pillar responses – confined to a single, isolated bullet point on 'a green Asean' straddling the economic and sociocultural pillars. Entirely absent is the need for a unified approach that places health and wellbeing at the core of regional prosperity, peace, and the structural transformations essential for long-term security. Planetary health determines the wellbeing of all life in this region, yet this essential relationship is not acknowledged in the document. It outlines aspirations for coordination but offers no mechanisms to deliver it. If Asean is serious about addressing the systems-level threats it identifies, including climate, conflict, and displacement, it must move beyond working in silos. The economic ambitions are clear: to become the world's fourth-largest economy by 2045. There is pride in this trajectory, and rightly so. The region's dynamism is a global success story. But the blueprint's economic narrative leans heavily on traditional growth indicators – productivity, integration, scale – without enough interrogation of their sustainability or inclusiveness. Environmental concerns are addressed, but often as secondary considerations. One paragraph on the 'green economy' does not compensate for the lack of clear commitments to decarbonisation, circular economy models, or phasing out fossil fuels. Nor is there an explicit recognition of planetary boundaries. In a region already bearing the brunt of climate impacts, from sea-level rise to extreme heat and biodiversity loss, this is not just a technical omission. It is a strategic gap. Economic planning for 2045 must be built on ecological realism, not market optimism. The document rightly reaffirms Asean's commitment to democracy, good governance, and human rights. These are essential values for any future that seeks to be genuinely people-centred. But as the region continues to navigate complex political dynamics, including the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, it is striking that the vision does not address how Asean will respond when these values are under threat within its own community. Avoiding difficult issues may (arguably) keep the peace, but it erodes Asean's credibility, both at home and abroad. A resilient Asean must live its charter, not just cite it, and must stand for something more than branding in calm times and silence in crises. 'People-centred' is one of the most repeated phrases in the vision – welcome, and long overdue! But the document would be stronger if it showed how people's voices shaped its development or how they will be included in its implementation. There is little indication that Asean's citizens were consulted in any structured way in preparing this vision. Meanwhile, across South-East Asia, people are already building the future – through climate activism, informal care networks, and digital innovation. The 4th Asean Youth Statement reflects this energy, explicitly calling for planetary health to bridge existing divides. But it raises a question: is this vision only the youth's, and why is it missing from the 'Asean 2045 Vision'? Asean's political class must see people not as passive recipients of policy, but as co-creators of regional identity and progress. Without that, 'people-centred' risks becoming a slogan, not a principle. The call to strengthen the Asean Secretariat is, by now, a familiar one. It features in almost every major regional declaration. Yet little progress has been made in translating that sentiment into real investment or reform. If Asean is to deliver on the commitments laid out in this document, it needs an institutional engine that is fit for purpose – analytically robust, politically empowered, and properly resourced by its 10 member states. This is not about bureaucracy. It is about credibility. 'Asean 2045: Our Shared Future' is an important and timely document. It articulates a vision of prosperity and cohesion and reflects a maturing regionalism that many of us who have worked across Asean for years welcome. But it also reflects the challenges of a multilateral system that remains cautious – sometimes excessively so – in confronting hard truths. A shared future cannot be built through declarations alone. It requires difficult conversations, courageous leadership, and deeper engagement with the people whose lives these plans will shape. It demands a willingness to shift power, not merely reassert process. If Asean can rise to this challenge – by investing in institutional reform, embracing ecological stewardship, and engaging its people more directly – it will not only chart a path for itself but could also offer the world a compelling model of regional cooperation fit for our turbulent times. That is a future worth striving for. And one Asean still has time to realise. Prof Tan Sri Dr Jemilah Mahmood, a physician and experienced crisis leader, is the executive director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University. She is the founder of Mercy Malaysia and has served in leadership roles internationally with the United Nations and Red Cross for the last decade. She writes on Planetary Health Matters once a month in Ecowatch . The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.
