Chinese President Xi Jinping's just-concluded visit to Southeast Asia resulted in numerous cooperation achievements, advanced regional win-win collaboration, and contributed positive momentum to global stability, according to officials and scholars in the region.
Xi paid state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia from Monday to Friday, marking his first overseas trip of the year.
Nguyen Van Tho, former deputy minister of foreign affairs of Vietnam and former Vietnamese ambassador to China, said Xi's visit to Vietnam was a great success, yielding fruitful outcomes in cooperation in multiple fields. "This is the fourth visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, which is of great historical significance and has been very successful. The two sides issued a joint statement on deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China and promoting the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. The two sides also signed 45 cooperation documents covering security, politics, economy, trade, science and technology, investment, education and training, tourism, and other fields," he said.
Officials from Malaysia and Cambodia said that Xi's visits not only mapped out a new blueprint for deepening bilateral cooperation, but also injected fresh impetus into promoting regional development.
"That [the visit] shows the importance China has placed on the bilateral relations between Malaysia and China. And secondly this year Malaysia is the rotating chairman of ASEAN, and I think China also places heavy importance on this. And, of course, further than that is to improve the cooperation especially in technology and people-to-people bond between China and Malaysia," said Xu Qingqi, chairman of the New Asian Strategic Research Center in Malaysia.
Highlighting Malaysia's role as the current chair of ASEAN, Malaysia’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Chang Lih Kang, emphasized the importance of Xi's visit to the region.
"I think President Xi's visit is very timely and very significant, especially (when) we just celebrated our 50th anniversary of our diplomatic ties last year. And this year we are the chair of ASEAN. So, I think besides deepening cooperation with both our countries, we also will take this opportunity to foster collaboration with ASEAN and China," he said.
Ek Sam Ol, advisor to the Royal Government of Cambodia and president of the Cambodia-China Friendship Association, said that during President Xi's visit, the two sides exchanged more than 30 cooperation documents across various fields. The visit, he added, has elevated the China-Cambodia community with a shared future to a new height.
Kong Tuan Yuen, a research fellow at the East Asian Institute under the National University of Singapore, noted that Xi's Southeast Asia visit comes at a critical moment for ASEAN amid ongoing regional uncertainty.
"I think Chinese President Xi Jinping's trip to Southeast Asia is very important. Since the United States President Trump introduced a 'reciprocal tariff,' there has been a lot of uncertainty in the region, especially many Asian countries depend on export for economic growth. Xi's visit, with the cooperation plan and message he brings, can help ASEAN countries figure out how to handle this uncertainty. We have also noticed that Xi's three global initiatives, and the concept of diplomacy with neighboring countries based on amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness, fit well with ASEAN's ideas on security, development, and civilization. This visit can help create a more aligned global cooperation plan with ASEAN countries," he said.
Southeast Asian officials, scholars hail Xi's visit as major boost to regional cooperation, global stability
