ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Highlights Five Priorities for ASEAN-China Cooperation

ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn has urged the strengthening of cooperation with China across five priority sectors, ranging from regional stability to tackling transnational crime, as the ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership deepens. “The first priority is peace and stability, because the other priorities cannot be achieved without it,” Secretary-General Kao said at an event marking five years of the ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership, the Jakarta Forum 2026, in Jakarta on Monday. Kao expressed appreciation for China’s commitment to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ), the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), and ASEAN centrality. The second priority for cooperation must revolve around digital transformation and innovation, he explained, particularly following the conclusion of negotiations on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), whose implementation is expected to expand the region’s digital economy to 2 trillion US dollars by 2030. “China’s strengths in technology, innovation, digital infrastructure, marketplaces, and emerging technologies make it the right partner in this transformation,” Kao said. Through such cooperation, ASEAN and China should deepen collaboration to enhance energy and food security as well as strengthen supply chain resilience, he added. The ASEAN power grid also provides a stable foundation for realising energy connectivity at the regional level, especially amid the momentum of energy shocks caused by conflicts. Close cooperation and information sharing, coordination among law enforcement agencies and capacity building, as well as the use of technology will enable more effective eradication of transnational crime, Kao stated. Finally, the fifth priority is the advancement of people-to-people ties, which includes increasing interaction between ASEAN and Chinese communities in various sectors such as tourism and education. The ASEAN Secretary-General stressed the importance of educational exchanges, cultural cooperation, youth initiatives, and city-level partnerships in efforts to promote people-to-people interaction in the region.