Chinese Premier Li Qiang called on ASEAN and Gulf countries to unite to build a “big market” to reduce pressure from the United States under the Trump administration while attending the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Li urged that regional differences be embraced as strengths, reflecting Beijing’s strategic push to strengthen regional economic ties as Washington steps up efforts to contain China’s economy.
Malaysia, which previously hosted visits by Xi Jinping and Li Qiang within a month, underscored the country’s pivotal position in China’s influence in Southeast Asia—a region wedged between two world powers.
Prime Minister Datuk Anwar Ibrahim stressed that ASEAN remains neutral, focusing on people’s welfare and trade, and not taking sides in the trade war between the two major economies.
Anwar also warned that the price to pay if Asean chooses to intervene in the trade war is high with US sanctions and chip export controls haunting the region and Malaysia now under investigation for allegedly re-shipping semiconductor chips to China.
Through the Asean Summit, China also signed a currency agreement with Indonesia, signaling Beijing's long-term plan to change the regional economic landscape.
The "big market" has been set in motion but who will control it?
