On 13-14 June 2016, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Kunming, China. This meeting was   co-chaired by H.E Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, as the current country coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, and H.E. Mr. Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of China.

          The ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers discussed ways and means to further enhance the ASEAN-China relations and cooperation as well as commemorative activities to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations in this year. In this regard, China has proposed various activities to raise awareness on ASEAN-China relations and deepen mutual understanding, many of which are aimed at promoting people-to-people contact and youth exchange. Broad support was given to China’s proposal to designate the year 2017 as “ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation” with a target of 30 million visitors between ASEAN and China by 2020.

          On the issue of South China Sea, the Meeting exchanged views on the current situation and promotion of cooperation. The Foreign Minister emphasised the importance of the full     and effective implementation of the Declaration on the conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) to ensure mutual trust and confidence which should proceed in tandem with the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct on South China Sea (COC). He also highlighted the need for all sides to seek win-win solutions, which can be done through implementing joint cooperative initiatives as Confidence Building Measures (CBM). The Ministers also noted with appreciation    the progress on the MFA-to-MFA Hotline and the ASEAN-China Code for Unplanned Encounters  at Sea (CUES) aiming to prevent and manage incidents on the ground pending the resolution of the disputes, which will be ones of the deliverables for the upcoming ASEAN-China Commemorative Summit to be held on 7 September 2016.

After the Meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand also had a bilateral meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister during which both sides reaffirmed the commitment to maintaining the close bilateral relations that have been well under way.