Panel: Historic 1st summit, when ASEAN, China, and Gulf states make 1+1+1 > 3
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Chinese Premier Li Qiang has made a trip to Southeast Asia this week for a historic first summit where ASEAN, China and the Gulf states aim to prove that 1 plus 1 plus 1 is greater than 3. Welcome to Road Today, the panel discussion with Mi Ge-anna in Beijing.

Speaking at the talks in Kuala Lumpur, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said the launch of the new forum that groups China, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council marked a major innovation in regional economic cooperation amid complex changes in the international landscape.

He also said China is ready to deepen strategic alignment with ASEAN and the GCC, enhance coordination of macroeconomic policies, and strengthen collaboration in industrial specialization. Experts believe the summit signals a broader trend of countries working together to mitigate the negative impact of Washington's tariff push and may lay the groundwork for closer economic and strategic ties among the three sides.

To delve into this emerging trilateral cooperation and its broader implications, we're joined by Dr. Li Pei Mei, Assistant Professor of Political Science at International Islamic University Malaysia. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much, Anna, for having me. Dr. Rong Ying, Chair Professor with the School of International Studies at Sichuan University. Welcome to our show. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. Great to have you again. Thank you. So first things first, I'm delighted to start today's conversation with Dr. Li, who's joining us from the very city where the summit happened, Kuala Lumpur. What was the atmosphere like in the city during the summit? How were people in policy circles or on campus talking about this?

Well, I can say that the summit was a success because it was very well promoted. Throughout the city of Kuala Lumpur, you can see signboards that promote the summit, which are very visible. Additionally, you will see broadcast and written news coverage of the summit. So it definitely garnered a lot of attention in both policy circles and also academic circles.

And for academic circles, it was a busy time for some academics as they went on live shows to discuss the summit. And for policymakers, besides attending the summit for those very high-level leaders, there are other policymakers who were also attending other events that make frequent reference to that summit.

Even the public, because how well it was promoted, the public was also aware that many high-level leaders were attending the summit. So I think this was a very good and very optimistic summit. Of course, Malaysia has long been seen as a bridge between the East and West, between Islamic countries and Asia. So I'm curious, Dr. Lee, as a scholar based in Malaysia, how do you see your country's role in hosting such a high-profile, first-of-its-kind event? Well,

Right, and you're right to point out that we are proud that we often say that Malaysia will act as a bridge between China and also the Muslim world, especially for this summit, it's between China, GCC and ASEAN, right? So I think it's our honor to be able to host this kind of high-level summit. Malaysia actually demonstrates to the world that middle power country can have the convening power.

I'm also, of course, pleased that Malaysia's diplomacy is effective. When high-level leaders from GCC and China attended the summit, it boosted Malaysia's role as ASEAN Chair this year, which is very important for Malaysia because we emphasize a lot on how effective we can be as an ASEAN Chair. So Malaysian leaders really value their willingness to come together. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Li, one last question from you on this part. Did anything about the summit stand out to you on a personal level? You know, something that perhaps made you think, well, this is history in the making?

Well, I guess it was the economic potential that this trilateral partnership could bring to the region. These three parties itself have a combined economic skill that now reaches nearly 25 trillion dollars and they have a very large population exceeding 2 billion people. So from my perspective, I think

We see this as a defining moment for ASEAN to reshape the global order. And also some scholars may argue that the global south moment has arrived. Thanks, Dr. Lee. That's a great ground level view from Malaysia. So let's zoom out a little now and bring our other two guests. Dr. Rong, what's your take on this? Big summits happen all the time, right? But what set this one apart?

Indeed, I think big summits taking place every time and there are so many sort of bilateral, trilateral, quadrilateral, whatever summits or meetings, mechanism like that. But I think this mechanism, this platform means a lot for the three sides. But let me first of all congratulate Malaysia, the host, and ASEAN in general for their creativity, make it possible, make it happen. I think this is in

indeed a creative way to promote regional economic cooperation and integration. Secondly, I think it demonstrates the creativeness of ASEAN's diplomacy, which I think once again highlights the centrality of ASEAN in bringing its partners

and friends to work together to commonly or jointly address the challenges, problems we're having, both internally and externally. And also I think to translate or turn these challenges for opportunities through cooperation and collaboration.

Lastly, I guess it is also kind of a demonstration of the commitment of China in supporting ASEAN, supporting Malaysia's diplomacy. But more importantly, I think a kind of example of China's commitment to working with its partners, both in ASEAN and Gulf, for win-win cooperation through the implementing or

that vision of building a community with a shared future. That is very much demonstrated by the importance of the Chinese government that has been attached by sending the premier. And also, I think everyone follows the speeches, the statement by Premier Li Cheng. He put forward many important

ideas on how to follow through this mechanism, this platform will be successful. I think this is indeed something three of us, ASEAN, China and the Gulf would have to congratulate for such a successful initiative.

Indeed. Dr. Zhou, what do you think makes this gathering unique or significant at this moment in time? Well, I agree with experts that water is facing many challenges. I think that is one of the ideas we have to mention when we are discussing about the possibility of collaboration. While the water is under uncertainty because of the protectionism, and no matter where it comes from, no matter where it is, I think the countries are really trying to

provide a better mechanism to assure that enterprises can do business as Euro, maybe not as the past, but they want to stabilize the environment and try to give them more confidence in collaboration. Well, JCCC, ASEAN and China, we are actually, all of us are just in the developing stage. So many of these countries are trying to develop our society by better connections.

I think this mechanism has provided us with some of the possible ways to discuss about how can we achieve our goals. Like China and ASEAN and China and the Gulf countries, we have a long term of collaboration but in different ways. For China and ASEAN, I think that both of us are trying to improve the connections in the manufacturing

infrastructure and also something to do with the trade. With China and Gulf countries, we are doing more on the infrastructure, cooperation, energies or other kind of culture exchange. So for this platform, it provides us for three of us to try to discuss what we can do together. I think that is a very important milestone opportunity for all of us to try to discuss about the possible

mechanism to protect the interests of the peoples and also trying to reduce the impact from the outer side world. Before we move to the next sector, there is a question for all three of you. What's the strategic value of inviting the Gulf countries into this China-ASEAN equation? What do each of these three sides can gain from this

cooperation. Dr. Zhou, would you like to start? What's China hoping to achieve through this new framework? Yeah, for me, I think the most important thing is that all of our three partners are having different advantages and also disadvantages. So this platform is giving us some

possible ways for discussing about the collaboration and also cooperation in this world. So this is a very important for us to find out what we can do in the, you know, nowadays stages. But another possible is about how can we do more on the innovation areas? That is what we need to discuss in the future.

Dr. Rong, what's your take on the strategic value of bringing the Gulf countries into the fold? And what do each of these three sides gain? Well, I think when we look at the Gulf, the six states, one naturally would think about the features, the characteristics, both in terms of geopolitics and also geoeconomics.

Gulf, the sixth state, I think they are very richly endowed with energy, right? So they are a supplier of energy. While in the meantime, I think they have historically developed a very close relationship with the West and the United States in particular. We all remember clearly the recent visit by President Trump, but again, I think

In past decade, we have seen that the Gulf has adopted kind of a look east or strengthen its engagement with the east. With China, certainly very much important. We have seen that China and the Gulf, politically, they have

reached a new kind of agreement for vision to build in a community of shared future for new era. And economically, I think China and the Gulf has working very closely for the past, I think, negotiations for a free trade. 11 rounds have taken place more than 20 years. So it's a very advantageous stage.

And culturally, or in terms of civilization or dialogue exchanges, I mean the three sides have their own uniqueness. So it is only natural. And also I think to think about the complementarity, potentiality of that cooperation in a context where they are quite different. So divergences. But I think that also creates a lot of potentialities.

and because of the complementarity. And this is now the three sides, the three parties decided to sit together to address, to look at ways to address the common challenges arising outside the world because of the changing geopolitical situation, the landscape, and most recently, I think, because of the global tariff war by the Trump administration.

So, I think the significance or the strategic significance arise not around the strategic per se, rather on the very fact that the three sides agreed or see the importance and most importantly, decided to work together to find ways to address their common challenges.

And what would they be gain? I think three of them begin in a way that is win-win-win cooperation. And the region, and we're talking about Asia and beyond, I think we're going to win by that formula we call the one plus one plus one would be larger than three.

three by an example, despite the differences, despite their history, they can work together. And last but not least, I think we're talking about the history. As a matter of fact, historically and culturally, the three sides have been very close, closely, I assume, they interacted, I mean, dating back to more than 2000 years.

As a matter of fact, the Chinese side has put forward one of the major areas where the three sides can work together and should promote dialogue based on mutual respect and mutual understanding.

Yes, the three sides are highly complementary in many aspects. Dr. Li, turning to you, how important do you think it is strategically to bring together the Gulf nations, China and ASEAN? And what's ASEAN's expectations on the other two partners?

Well, before I start answering the questions, I want to make reference to what Prof Fiong said earlier for his acknowledgement of Malaysia's role in organising this summit. I think for Malaysia as a media power, we really appreciate we're being recognised internationally for our role in bringing this trilateral partnership together.

So going back to Anna's questions, I think like what Prof Rong and also Dr Chow has mentioned, their economy will actually highly divergence. But despite that, they do not actually need to be competing interests, but rather it can be complementing interests.

Like I said, China, ASEAN and also Gulf countries, they are the leaders in different areas. For China, they are known as a leader in emerging sectors like green economy, digital economy and AI. Well, Gulf countries, they are very oil rich, right? But at the same time, they want to transition to green and sustainable development.

Because they understand that there's one point or there's a moment where the oil will be gone forever in the world. So they're wanting, they're embracing the global trend, moving towards a greener and sustainable development.

So for ASEAN, our expectation is that we are a region, there are a need for infrastructure project and therefore, you know, all rich GCC countries, they can actually invest in Malaysia. And of course, China can actually provide advice, expertise in terms of those emerging sectors.

Dr. Li, you specialised in political science and Malaysia's role in the regional affairs. So how do you see this new trilateral model complementing existing groupings like the RCEP or the BRI? Well, I think in a way there is potential. Through this partnership, I believe that China can promote more environmentally friendly and high-quality green BRI projects, and with the rich GCC countries serving as one of the key funding partners.

And of course, it will be very good for ASEAN countries because ASEAN countries were still in need of infrastructure development. So we will appreciate that there are more green and quality BRI projects being rolled out in our region. Of course, in terms of RCEP, as of now, GCC might not be able to be part of RCEP because they do not have a free trade agreement with ASEAN.

So unless there is, you know, more discussions in the longer term that they want to have an ASEAN and also GCC free trade agreement, then there's only possibility for RCEP to include GCC. Dr. Zhou, do you think this trilateral model could evolve into something more institutionalized like a permanent secretariat or even a formal platform like RCEP? Well,

Well, it is possible in my understanding that we can discuss some of the mechanisms that can assure that cooperation between or among these three partners can be continued. We know that there are several kinds of different actions, including the regional trade agreement or some other kind of mechanism, but it is even more possible for us to discuss about some

areas of cooperation along the supply chains. As we know that GCC countries are really good at providing different kinds of opportunities for infrastructure and energy related businesses. Well, at the end are able to produce more things to support the manufacturing. So as for one example, we know that GCC countries are also trying to diversify its energy and trying to use more solar panels

and the wind turbine and trying to do more to do with the water. I think that is something that the ASEAN countries are capable of. They are able to produce the solar panels with a very preferable and kind of competitive price and the solutions. While China is also our important supplier of the technology and also the experience of launching those projects. So for all of us, we can do more to improve the

supply chain, I mean, the new energy related supply chains, corporations as a mechanism. Well, there may be other issues we can discuss about the tariffs, about the so-called non-tariff measures. We can do it unilaterally. We don't have to, you know, form a

a package of the free trade agreements among us before we are going to do that, like what China is now doing to open our market universally to some other countries for the visa-free mechanisms. So if the market really needs more confidence, really needs some mechanism, I think that for all of us, we can do more to improve the institutional arrangement, as you mentioned.

Dr. Rong, what's your take? Because this trilateral setup also comes at a time when the United States is pushing forward with its so-called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework,

Although that initiative seems to have faded from the spotlight as Washington's ongoing tariff battles against the world. But that said, we still see some Western media drawing comparisons between these two. How do you view such a comparison? Well, I don't think it's fair to compare with this new creative mechanism with IPEF, which is, I think, a kind of a mechanism

or initiative meant to contain China under the so-called Indo-Pacific strategy. And I just doubt that with the coming of the Trump administration, the fate of that so-called IPF would, where it would be going. Having said that, I think it is true that mechanisms like this one, for the success of that, would have to take into account

of the different divergences while in the meantime working together to ensure the complementarities arriving from the divergences will help. I think at the initial stage or at this stage, focusing on regional economic cooperation while taking into account of the need for closer political consultations

Cultural exchanges are very much important. So the second thing I believe is the three sides have to work together to identify what are the areas where the three sides would work together to ensure that idea of one plus one plus one will be larger than three.

For me, I think as we have seen the leaders at the summit, the leaders have put forward some ideas like to facilitate connectivities, both in hardware, if I can say, so we're talking about ports, we're talking about others, but also in terms of electricity, power, things like that. But also, I think for me, it's very much important

soft part. So we're talking about rules, regulations, we're talking about the payment system and so on and so forth. That would be, of course, calm in a gradual way. But that is, I think, what makes this mechanism different from

that. Last thing I believe is that we have to make sure this mechanism is for cooperation. It's not meant to aim at third or fourth parties. So it is an open, inclusive mechanism. In other words, I think the three sides, while they support or join this mechanism,

They are looking for opportunities, so there are more options rather than forging a kind of group aimed at a third of the parties. That is very much important because we are talking about so many countries and even within, I think, ASEAN and the Gulf, there are naturally different priorities and different interests.

Dr. Li, anything to add? How do you rate the differences between the China-Asiang GCC model and the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework? Yeah, I personally think that it's not fair to make that comparison as what Professor Rong and also Dr. Jomi has said. I think there are two very different models.

First of all, if you look at the ASEAN China GCC model, it's more based on inter-regional block cooperation. It's not so much about country-based cooperation. So for IPAV, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, it's more like country-based cooperation.

And most importantly, IPAV does not include all ASEAN members. So you can see that in terms of membership, it was quite selective. And of course, when we talk about IPAV, we know this is US-led. So this is not like all these partners come together and then we think that we will sit on an equal footing.

basis and discuss what are kind of corporations that can have. It's more of US-led and the purpose is basically as what Professor Rong said, is to exclude China, to contain China by building an alternative supply chain. So which is not the basis of ASEAN-China GCC model. As both panelists rightly say, it's more an inclusive model. And although it's proposed by ASEAN, but then the three sides are equal.

And then they sit down and then they talk about what are the potentials of corporations. And of course now, because this ASEAN-China GCC model is new and it's still informal, unlike IPAF, but I believe that there are a lot of

more potential like what a professor and Dr. Joe mentioned. They are like corporations probably imports and electricity and digital payment systems and I just want to bring in that. In fact, you know, this this three trilateral corporations, they have potential for Islamic finance and halal industry because this market is actually growing. So

In Malaysia, we are actually a leader in the halal industry. We are also a leader in Islamic finance. Therefore, China, I think they are trying to explore the potential of this Islamic finance, but yet the development is slow. So on this part, I think Malaysia can actually offer some of the advice on how to expand on this one.

Thanks, panelists. Still ahead, how will these plans move from paper to practice? And can this cooperation model help stabilize global supply chains and promote inclusive development? This is World Today. Stay with us.

Welcome back to Road Today. I'm your host, Ge'anna. We've been discussing the first-ever China-ASEAN GCC Summit, a new platform that may reshape the landscape of regional and global cooperation. We're joined today by Dr. Li Peimei, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the International Islamic University, Malaysia.

Dr. Rong Ying, Chair Professor with the School of International Studies at Sichuan University. Dr. Zhou Mi, a Senior Research Fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. So let's dive back in. As you all mentioned earlier, many believe this summit reflects a broader trend of countries worldwide seeking to navigate around the disruptions caused by Washington's tariff policies.

Dr. Li, do you see this cooperation model as a response to that? Well, I would say that the proposal actually to have the summit came much earlier than the US Liberation Day. But you're right to say that the summit itself is so important to navigate all the global uncertainties caused by the Washington policies, particularly its tariff policies.

But also it reflects something more important, which is there is actually the growing trend towards shaping multipolarity, which allows diversity. So in the past, actually, there were a lot of dissatisfactions with the so-called US-led global order, which intensified especially after the Cold War, when the US, they go forth this kind of interventionist policy interfering in Middle East politics.

in Afghanistan, in Iraq. So there was dissatisfaction also among the Muslim world, particularly on the Palestinian issue. But at that moment, after the Cold War, the US still remains as the most powerful and economically strong country. So there are very limited and very restricted opportunities for other countries, particularly those developing countries, to try to reshape the order. But this time around, it's a bit different. I

The US actually lost credibility. Of course, the credibility was severely undermined because of the tariff policy of the US and also how it has treated its allies and partners. So the policies are not only targeted at countries that are hostile to the US, but basically it's targeted at any countries. So they are very protectionist and also nationalist policies.

caused the US to lose its allies and partners. So coming to this sub-meet, I think for other countries, there is a realization that, well, it will make more sense for countries to foster relationship with more predictable partners rather than relying on traditional partners like the US, which the policy is like flip-flopping within days.

Dr. Zhou, how do you assess this vision in a time of growing protectionism and we've seen growing interest among developing economies in building their own partnerships outside the traditional Western frameworks. So in your opinion, why do you think this is happening now?

Well, in my understanding, they have to do that because, you know, under the original mechanism, which was set out by the Western countries, they have fulfilled their commitments. I mean, for the developing countries, they have fulfilled their commitments of opening up their market and lowering their tariffs. But now they are faced by more challenges. I think that is some very unreasonable challenges that are put by the United States government.

And, you know, it is a kind of over requirement by the United States. So what can they do? I mean, there are so many companies in their countries, in the developing countries, they want to continue with their businesses. So they want to have a more stable environment. Like, you know, when the companies want to prepare for the manufacturing, they have to understand, they have to know what would be the demand of the market in the coming months. So without the knowledge of knowing that, they may not

be able to have prepared some stock in the manufacturing. So they have to understand the market and the cooperation among the global south countries are really based on the similar ideas of opening up and trying to stabilize the global supply chains.

Well, maybe they are not so experienced in doing that for many of the developing countries, but they have the willingness to provide a better support to the market, to the consumer and the manufacturers. I think that based on this platform, like the trilateral platforms between China and the Gulf countries, we can share our experiences with each other. Maybe it's not always from China, but we can share our experiences together.

And these experiences can be used to design a better and more transparent and open system for the companies, for the market to react. So this is a really important time for us to try to make a better confidence for the market and they will know what will happen and these kind of messages will be received by this market. Dr. Zhou, Premier Li Qiang highlighted a number of pressing challenges during his remarks.

from intensifying geopolitical tensions and confrontation to the rise of protectionism and unilateralism and a growing force toward decoupling supply chain disruptions and building barriers. Against this bad job, he also called this new trilateral format a major innovation in regional economic cooperation. What do you think this innovation really means in practice?

Well, in practice, I mean, this kind of idea is not coming from just outside of our packages. For the companies, for the governments in these regions, we do not force to form this kind of mechanism. I think that's a

that is the first step because the three parts are our three parties are trying to give some platform for the discussion of the future work we can do well based on this mechanism i think that there will be several different regions and also the vertical

sectors they can discuss together about what they can do based on this platform. So the innovation means that it's really our institutional innovations to arrange and give a more predicted environment for the corporation for the market. Well, the second I would like to say about the innovation, because some of these topics, some of these topics that they have discussed are

are just some very new areas, emerging areas like the digital economy, like the green transitions of energy. I think these kind of new areas have not uniformed routines or international principles that have been reached.

So the discussion about the possibilities for the innovative technology and also the application of those technologies can be very well accepted by the market. So based on these innovations, I think that the market will have more energy

and they have the willingness to join these kind of discussions. As we know that GCC countries, they do have a lot of capital and many of these capitals are in the form of the sovereign bank. So they want more opportunities. They want to know the possible future with the cooperation

among the three parties, this capital can be better used in the different areas of the innovation. I think that is definitely what the ADIAN countries and China want to have. Well, from another side, China's technology of the innovation areas and ADIAN's abilities to provide better innovation

scenarios of the application of this technology can also be integrated. So we have many complementary ways to realize those innovations and make those companies benefit from this cooperation. Dr. Zhou, one point primarily emphasized was industrial specialization. So how do you interpret this concept?

What does it suggest about the action plans we might expect next? In my understanding that there are several areas of different competition modes. The first one is that in the horizontal position that many companies are doing similar stage of the development. So they will try to explore their market in the world.

In this regard, how can we try to give more information to the companies are really important. Without this information, they will try to make the capacities as large as they can. So we need to have some mechanism to share the enterprises with enough information about the market.

But the second kind of cooperation or different ways of industry's development is about the vertical collaboration. So in this regard, like the examples I've provided that we can do more to

to help that different parties can do better to maximize their abilities and advantages in coping with each other. That will provide even stronger collaboration for those parties and they can develop much better products or solutions even to provide for the rest of the world

So in my understanding that, you know, in such a kind of chaos of the pro-technism, the world is under pressure. The global supply chains and industrial chains are,

in the process of reconstruction. So we can lead, we can try to help the market to have a better path for re-industrialization or rebalance in such uncertain conditions. I think that is really helpful and important for all of our three parties because all of us are depending too much on the manufacturing. We do not want to

to ruin the market order. We want to keep it in good conditions. Dr. Li, what's your take? What's your vision on the new format between China, ASEAN and Gulf states? What are some concrete opportunities that could emerge from this collaboration amid increasing global uncertainties?

Well, first of all, I think this trilateral summit is a result of Malaysia's creative diplomacy. This is quite an alien concept in Malaysia, but this has been used by Anwar in many of his speeches. So, I guess under so many emerging challenges, we just need to be creative and innovative.

So in the sense of what can this submit actually brings, I think there is a lot of things that we can expect. The central idea about why we want to have this submit and bringing different parties together is because we want to maintain a free trade and multilateral trading system, right? So which is beneficial for all. So I think there needs to be commitment from all these sides to work together to create a more conducive business environment for trade.

So basically, I think there's a lot more that we can expect from this summit, concrete ones, like I say, in terms of AI. So we say in terms of AI, then how does China as a leader in global, as a global leader in AI can help? I think one of the things that China can help is training our talent.

So basically, in Malaysia, if we want to adopt AI, in ASEAN, we want to adopt AI very quickly. So we need to have the experts, we need to have the talents on how to do it. So I think recently, Malaysia, we have these private enterprises working closely with China's enterprises in rolling out AI tech.

deep sea in our public service, public civil service. So this is one of the examples of how countries can work together. So now we GCC into the equation. So probably I was thinking that they can have a more formalized and institutionalized

vocational trading centers for AI, with China taking the lead and giving advice on what kind of talents are needed, what kind of skills are needed for countries to successfully adopt AI in the economy. So in terms of digital economy also, they are, like earlier mentioned by Professor Rong, a digital payment system.

I think there's a large potential in it. ASEAN is really pushing for it. They want more integration, economic integration among these ASEAN by rolling out this digital payment system. And China actually also have been collaborating with some members on this one. So now if we can include GCC, so this will mean we can increase trade with

We can increase tourism. We can increase, you know, many, many other areas of corporations because of how we try to integrate our payment system. Speaking of that, Dr. Zhou, the three blocks represent a major chunk of global energy manufacturing and logistics, right? How important is this collaboration, you know, to put these three together?

together for global supply chain cooperation in the near future? Well, first of all, I would say that the market of these three packages, or three parts, are really increasing and they are big. Like the population in all these three areas,

I think it's about at least 30% or even more around the total population of the world. And the second, I think that they are providing the most important supply of the manufacturing products, including the electronics, electronics,

Also the vehicles and some of them are together, you know, to do with transportation. So, and the third advantages of this are, you know, the energy that they are providing the world. So based on these facts, I will say they are the important factors

elements that we when we are looking at the industry's development if you're looking back you can find that the manufacturing's are coming from the steel and you know the raw materials so these areas have the raw materials they have the abilities to make the raw materials into the manufacturer products and they have the abilities to transfer you know or you know supply those products to the world market

So if these parts are able to keep stable, I would say that the world is gaining its strength of keeping stable. So I would say the cooperation among these three areas really are important. They are not just providing the world with enough supply of the manufacturing products and also agricultural products.

But also, I think that they are trying to give the world more confidence that without the interpretation of some of these main countries in the world, we can still try to be more self-sufficient. That is important. We can do more to deal with uncertainties by better mechanism coordination, no matter

from the real term or from the financial areas, something to do with currencies. I believe that these corporations are really giving the world more confidence and it's making some good examples. Dr. Rong, alongside trade and industry, policy coordination was another major theme during the summit. Premier Li talked about aligning macroeconomic policies

But what does that look like in practice, especially across such diverse economies? Well, that is a very important area where I think at least from the Chinese perspective, that would become a very important one for trilateral collaboration. Definitely, I think at the policy level, the policy dialogue on how the three sides

manage their economy and how they can learn from each other in terms of the experiences and the lessons that is again equally important. But most importantly, I think coming up a common or shared sort of positions in VW, the trends of unilateralism and also I think the problems arriving from Trump administration in particular.

That has always been very much important for collaboration. But I think I would just add a few points related to the specific areas of cooperation. I think energy

much being talked about that is very much important and energy transition or green energy are very much important and particularly in the context how to manage I mean the climate changes and I think maritime issues the blue economy is also very much important but all these areas are

very much in a way that at the suicide have to work together as jointly through joint efforts in terms of not only the available technologies that we have had, but more importantly to develop

and new technologies, and also in this context, the new business opportunities are arriving. So that's why we're the business community should bring in, bring on board. And it is very important and fortunate to see that along with the summit, we have also have a business economic forum, which I can, again, I see a very huge enthusiasm.

And not only, I think, the three parts, but also the other potential investors would like to explore the business opportunities of cooperation.

Dr. Rong, beyond economics, the summit also touched on values, primarily spoken of building a model of cross-civilization integration rooted in peace, openness and inclusiveness, values closely tied to Asia's cultural traditions. What makes this vision especially relevant today, and how might it differ from Western-led models of global engagement?

I think it is true, as we have seen, that these three sites have a long history, great civilizations.

and they all would like to pursue their own development in line with their own conditions. And for that, I think they are very proud of their values and they are very proud of their own civilization. But in the meantime, we look at Asia over the past decades of interactions, historically culture, we have always been sort of treating each other as equals. We're always being treasured peace,

cooperation in a way that helps us to achieve what we are. So that openness, that inclusivity is very much important, which I think again makes a sharp contrast of the West dominated sort of approach or the US led approach that they would like to push for democratization

And these understandings, these shared thinkings were going to play a very important role to make sure that the cooperation will be on an equal and inclusive and mutually win-win sort of way.

Dr. Li, would you like to weigh in? Because one interesting example of this vision is the promotion of Confucian Islamic dialogue highlighted during these high-level meetings between China and Malaysia. What's your take on the dialogue? What kind of sparks do you think a connection like this could ignite? Well, actually, Malaysia and China have engaged in Confucian Islamic dialogue in various forms since the 1990s.

The engagement for now has been more than 30 years, and the responsible institutes like International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization under my university, International Islamic University Malaysia, they're actually responsible for promoting inter-civilizational engagement. So we can see that there has been enduring commitment to foster such dialogues.

And now that this has been urged to deepen or promote more of this kind of dialogue between Malaysia and China, shows how important it is to appreciate each other's civilization and to learn.

So for example, you know, the civilizations have a long history for China, thousands of history. So we can look at how, you know, China, particularly its Confucian values, what can we learn from it? I mean, Confucian values talks about also governance, right? And how does that compare to Islamic governance?

And is there some similarities that we can derive from it? And what are the lessons that we can derive from it? So this kind of dialogue can further deepen the inter-civilization understanding and foster deeper trust between both countries.

So I believe that from such dialogue, people to people engagement, people to people exchanges will be of course growing. And in fact, in last month, I mean, in fact, today we want to deepen the inter-civilization understanding. And what we did was Malaysia and China actually signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize the commitment to fostering confusion Islamic dialogue.

So with the MOUs, I'm expecting that we can see more of the dialogues, exhibitions and translation of words from, you know, Confucian Islamic scholars and things like that to happen. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Zhou, from your perspective, how might such a civilizational approach help build deeper mutual trust, not just diplomatically, but across business and people-to-people exchanges? Well, we know that everything has to start from the people. Actually, no matter how strong the government is, I think that the final decision power should come from these people.

So the exchange of these peoples, I mean, about the ideas, about their attitudes towards the world and their understanding about how can the technology should be used is very important. Like if we are looking at some of new mode of development, like for the e-commerce, I think that for different countries, they have the different rules and they have the different attitudes.

But if you are looking at the consumers' attitudes and also the suppliers' attitudes, you may know more about what is really needed by the market. So we have to say that when the technology is developing, there are so many uncertainties and there will be some shocks to the traditional ways of doing business. But we have to respect that technology development.

So have a better exchange of the ideas from different civilizations could help us to speed up this process and trying to reduce the cost that we will undertake during the process of transfer. Well, another kind of stabilization is not only about the real things. We have to respect the cultural products, like what we have included in the RCEP.

that the culture designs of a certain performance of the folk designs of the closest in Southeast Asia are respected as intellectual property rights. So we need to understand the requirement from different parts and trying to make that more accountable or kind of things that we can do more to support

in the regimens of better rules and the mechanism. And this is very important that we have to respect the civilization, not just in the history, but also looking forward to the future.

As we wrap up, I want to get a quick final thought from each of you. So looking at this summit and its broader context, what are your closing reflections on today's topic? And what's your biggest hope or concern moving forward? Dr. Li, would you like to start? I think looking at the summit, I'm actually very optimistic about this trilateral partnership, because this partnership has a demonstration effect.

So it's telling the world that economies, despite their diversity, they could find ways to complement each other. So we don't have to, you know, countries don't have to go into competing with one another to grow. Instead through corporations, we can actually make the world a better place.

and of course this summit also may serve as an inspiration for other countries or regional blocs to also explore new forms of partnership it also means that for me i think now is the time for global south to be more confident in charting their own path dr ron what are your thoughts on this well yeah i agree with dr lee's remarks that i think uh that we have to work hard

and to maintain the momentum by continuously explore areas of practical operations, applications of the principles, understanding the reach, and more importantly, I think add

more substance of this kind of cooperation by implementing the agreement or consensus that was reached. Last but not least, I believe that the results have to be deliverable in a way that brings more stakeholders, not only the business community, big and small, but also I think the general public, so that

and their mechanism will be on a very steady and solid sort of foundation. Dr. Zhou, what's your closing reflection? Well, yeah, I would say that maybe it is true that the physical distance among our three parties

are not be shortened just by this forum, but the internal distance between the peoples are really closer compared with before. So we have to speed up the cooperation on the areas that all of us are agreed to develop.

and trying to speed up the logistics and giving more attention for the areas that all of us want to develop. And that is definitely what we can do and will benefit all of us. Thank you so much for your time and insights today.

This has been a fascinating deep dive into a summit that might just shape the next decade of regional cooperation. Dr. Li Pei-mei, Assistant Professor of Political Science at International Islamic University Malaysia, Dr. Rong Ying, Chair Professor with the School of International Studies at Sichuan University, and Dr. Zhou Mi, a Senior Research Fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

That's all the time for this edition of World Today with me, Ke'an. Thank you so much for listening. Bye for now.