China-ASEAN cooperation offers an Asian model for global governance

Recently, the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit were held in Nanning, Guangxi. Under the theme "CAFTA 3.0 Opportunities, Better Life," the summit attracted more than 3,400 enterprises from over 70 countries and regions, with the digital economy, green economy and artificial intelligence emerging as new focal points for cooperation. With the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol now officially signed, it is evident that China-ASEAN cooperation is entering a deeper phase.

The global governance system is undergoing profound transformation. With the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, frequent geopolitical conflicts, and the persistence of the outdated "zero-sum game" mindset, the overarching themes of peace and development are being overshadowed.

In addressing transnational issues such as climate change, public health crises, digital governance and economic recovery, the existing governance system has exposed structural challenges - including a lack of representation, a deficiency in effectiveness and an inadequate supply of public goods - making the deficit and imbalances in global governance increasingly evident.

Amid this global impasse, the international community urgently calls for new, innovative approaches and pragmatic solutions to break the deadlock. These should not be mere patchwork fixes to the old system, nor should they be a rehash of power politics; rather, they must be a new paradigm of cooperation grounded in equality and mutual benefit, focused on shared development, and committed to collaborative innovation.

China's multilateral regional cooperation with ASEAN, rooted in Asian culture and emphasizing pragmatism and development, precisely addresses the common challenges and core aspirations of developing countries in their modernization processes and regional cooperation, offering at least three insights for the Global South's participation in global governance.

The first insight is that prioritizing the right to development transcends ideological divides. The global governance system has long been shaped by agendas dominated by developed countries, which often tie political values, human rights and other issues to development aid.

China-ASEAN cooperation is founded on a common aspiration for development. From tariff concessions under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to the coordinated development of entire industrial chains, cooperation has consistently centered on how to create wealth and improve people's livelihoods.

It shows that developing countries can place the right to development at the heart of international relations and to confidently demand that the global governance system pay greater attention to substantive issues such as poverty alleviation and debt relief, while jointly calling for a more equitable, development-focused global economic order.

The second insight is the need to replace procedural deadlock with effective governance. When developing countries blindly adopt Western multilateral models, they easily fall into a governance deadlock characterized by endless debate without decision-making and decisions that are never implemented, causing development opportunities to slip away amid protracted negotiations.

China-ASEAN cooperation emphasizes pragmatism and prioritizes the comfort level of participating countries, directly addressing the pain points of traditional global governance mechanisms - namely, their sluggish response and empty promises when dealing with issues facing developing countries.

Particularly regarding core concerns of the Global South, such as development financing, infrastructure construction and technology transfer, the ultimate standard for measuring governance effectiveness must be whether "projects are implemented and people's livelihoods are improved."

The third insight is to replace the model of dependence with one of autonomous development and interconnectedness. Historically, developing countries have often found themselves trapped in a state of unilateral dependence on central powers. China-ASEAN cooperation, however, emphasizes development empowerment and joint system-building.

Through the deep integration of the Belt and Road Initiative with ASEAN's connectivity plans, both sides are jointly building "hard connectivity" in infrastructure and "soft connectivity" in industrial synergy and rules and standards. For example, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway not only provides Indonesia with a modern railway but has also driven a comprehensive upgrade of local engineering technology, operational management and supporting industries. The China-Malaysia "Two Countries, Two Parks" model has pioneered a new paradigm for the seamless integration of transnational industrial and supply chains, propelling ASEAN countries to become deeply embedded in the mid-to-high-end segments of global value chains.

The practice of China-ASEAN cooperation has shown the advantages of dialogue and consultation over confrontation and conflict in resolving differences, and has illustrated the possibility of equal cooperation among countries with different levels of development and different social systems. Amid rising global unilateralism and protectionism, China-ASEAN cooperation offers an Asian model worthy of reference for the improvement of the global governance system.

The author is a professor at the Institute of International Relations, China Foreign Affairs University.