Malaysia has invited China to join a summit with Southeast Asian and Arab states next year, aiming to widen Asean’s pool of economic partners as it prepares to take on the bloc’s chairmanship in 2025.
Speaking at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said China’s inclusion in the annual summit between Asean and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) next year would be “of great consequence to the trajectory of regional growth”.
Anwar emphasised that this three-way cooperation would help narrow the economic gap between the East and Western developed nations.
“As Asean chair next year, Malaysia aims to enhance regional cooperation and inclusive, rules-based regional framework,” he said.
Global supply chains have been thrown into turmoil by a US-led trade war on China since 2018, aimed at addressing what the US and its allies claim to be unfair trade practices by the Asian giant.
