On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have formed a comprehensive strategic cooperation.

"Today, we jointly announce the establishment of a China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This is a new milestone in the history of our relations and will inject new impetus into peace, stability, prosperity, and development of our region and the world," Xi said at the opening ceremony of the summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue.

In addition, the Chinese president announced that his country was willing to offer another $1.5 billion in development assistance to ASEAN over the next three years to aid the region's fight against COVID-19 and ensure economic recovery.

The president stated that China was willing to engage in international development cooperation with ASEAN and to begin negotiations on a deal in this field.

In 1991, China and ASEAN began forming dialogue lines. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are members of ASEAN, which promotes economic, political, and security cooperation among the 10 Southeast Asian states.