By Kalinga Seneviratne

This is a slightly modifed version of the original published on IDN-InDepthNews

BANGKOK, Thailand | 7 June 2025 (WorldView) — Countries representing over 2 billion people and a combined economy of over US$25 trillion came together to chart a new path for a peaceful and prosperous world through civilisational dialogue and cooperation, a term the West finds challenging to understand.

The landmark meeting, held on 26-27 May in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, brought together the leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the 6-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and China, the world’s second-largest economy.

In 2024, ASEAN-China trade reached US$ 1 trillion, while GCC-China trade exceeded US$ 288 billion, with vast potential for further trade expansion. The leaders from both regions discussed the potential of the region to foster regional stability and lead in economic globalisation.

A new chapter 

Speaking at the same session, Chinese Premier Li Qiang called on China, ASEAN and GCC countries to jointly forge an example of openness, development cooperation and cross-civilisation integration by creating a model of cross-region transparency, noting that the population and economic aggregate of China as well as countries of the ASEAN and the GCC account for approximately one-quarter of the world’s total population.

Traditional United States (US) ally Singapore’s new Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong, called upon the three partners to forge deeper ties to unlock new pathways for economic cooperation amid geopolitical turbulence and uncertainty. Pointing out that ASEAN will become the world’s fourth-largest economic bloc by 2030, he said that this new grouping could drive global growth by increasing cooperation in new areas, such as digital technology, artificial intelligence, and renewable energy.

The fact is that the summit participants have expertise in all these areas, and it is a matter of coordinating their implementation rather than engaging in hegemonic power play. Both Malaysia and China have also emphasised the promotion of cultural dialogue and understanding, drawing inspiration from the ancient Silk Road, where trade and culture interacted seamlessly and peacefully. China is keen to emphasise this with its new avatar of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) accompanied by its ‘Global Civilizational Initiative’.

BRI as a “debt trap”?

West’s attempt to denigrate BRI as a “debt trap” has backfired. In his summit opening remarks, Anwar referred to the rich trading histories shared by the three parties, from the Silk Road to the Malacca sultanate’s flourishing as a critical entrepot linking East and West. “Today, ASEAN carries forward that legacy on a broader scale, emerging as a dynamic crossroads of global commerce, innovation and opportunity,” said Anwar.

“America’s determination to contain China is forcing countries towards an uncomfortable decision long avoided: choosing a side”, notes Peter Chang, a visiting senior fellow with ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. “As both US allies and adversaries recalibrate their positions, the world is witnessing a profound geopolitical reconfiguration. Trump’s disruptive “America first” agenda has accelerated efforts to develop alternative economic frameworks, with nations seeking to insulate themselves from Washington’s unpredictable policies”, argued Chang in a commentary published in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP), adding that the Asean-GCC-China partnership is “a crucial step in advancing the developing world’s vision”.

Pledges

China’s Global Times (GT) noted that the leaders pledged to deepen further BRI cooperation in areas such as connectivity, economy and trade, industrial and supply chains, agriculture, energy, finance, and the digital economy.

“They also pledged to strengthen mutual learning among civilisations, carry out closer multilateral cooperation, and advance trilateral integration for strong, inclusive, and sustainable development, contributing to the building of a community with a shared future”, GT said. The latter refers to China’s often stated goal of development cooperation as a mutually beneficial process.

Chen Hong, Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Studies Center at East China Normal University, told GT, “It’s not only a crucial milestone for regional cooperation in Asia but also a collective declaration by Global South nations under the shadow of unilateralism, asserting that multipolarity and equal cooperation represent the prevailing will of the people and that unity will inevitably triumph over isolationism.”

Riaz Khokhar, a political scientist at the University of Gothenburg, writing in SCMP, argues that the trilateral partnership forged aligns well with China’s BRI, leveraging ASEAN’s consumer markets and the GCC’s energy wealth. “ASEAN’s resources, the GCC’s financial clout and China’s manufacturing dominance constitute complementary strengths that can forge a robust supply chain ecosystem. Raw materials, such as Indonesia’s nickel and Malaysia’s palm oil, complement China’s manufacturing capacity, while the GCC’s sovereign wealth funds, worth a collective US$5 trillion, can finance critical projects,” he notes.

No pipedreams

These are not pipedreams. As Khokhar points out, in April, Qatar’s Investment Authority and Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund, Danareksa, announced a US$4 billion fund to invest in Indonesia’s renewable energy, healthcare, and technology sectors. That will see ASEAN supplying raw materials for China’s electric vehicle battery production with GCC funding. Trilateral investments in ASEAN’s digital economy could link China’s digital payment systems with the GCC’s Islamic finance networks, which will create a “robust digital ecosystem,” argues Khokhar.

The Kuala Lumpur summit was a welcome break from the East Asia Summit and Singapore’s Shangri-La Dialogue (that took place at the same time), where Western leaders came and lectured about so-called “security issues” in the region and the need to expand defence budgets. There was no such talk in Kuala Lumpur nor the regional media coverage of the summit.

“Trilateral cooperation between ASEAN, China, and the GCC is likely to deepen and extend into new sectors, reinforcing a pragmatic partnership model built on complementary strengths’, argued Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, Director of China-Indonesia Desh at the Jakarta-based Center of Economic Law Studies in a commentary published by China Global South Project. “This framework provides a solid foundation for regional collaboration, focusing on infrastructure, technology, and sustainable development.” [WorldView]

Image: Kuala Lumpur Library view Dataran Merdeka. CC BY-SA 4.0