China, ASEAN establish comprehensive strategic partnership

China and ASEAN on Monday upgraded their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

At the special summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations on Monday, Xi Jinping announced the establishment of the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, Chinese state media Global Times reported.

This is a new milestone in the history of bilateral relations and will inject fresh impetus to regional and world peace, stability, prosperity and development, Xi said.

ASEAN officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is an economic union comprising of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

China and the ASEAN established dialogue relations in 1991.

As per the Chinese state media, the upgraded ties would help the ASEAN and China to tap into more high-quality cooperation potential - including COVID-19 vaccine research.

( With inputs from ANI )