China Daily:

We've noted that recently some ASEAN countries have clearly claimed their objection towards the South China Sea arbitration; how shall we treat China-ASEAN relations in the post-arbitration era?

Liu Zhenmin:

Firstly, the South China Sea dispute involves China and a number of ASEAN countries, rather than all of them. The so-called claimant states are just a few, while ASEAN has ten member states. But to be frank, the existing dispute will more or less affect China-ASEAN relations and cooperation. However, on the basis of China's policy and willingness, we hope that China-ASEAN cooperation will not be influenced and it is what we have expected and made efforts to achieve. So over the past three years or more, we have proactively promoted China-ASEAN cooperation in the process of dealing with the Philippines arbitration case.

When attending the China-ASEAN Summit in 2013, Premier Li Keqiang proposed the 2+7 cooperation framework, which is under implementation now. President Xi Jinping put forward the initiative of "building up the China-ASEAN community of a shared future" when he paid visits to Southeast Asia. Generally, the cooperation remains stable but is undergoing some disturbance. We insist that the South China Sea issue should be addressed under the framework of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) by China and involved ASEAN countries through negotiation, so as to safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea. What counts most is to seek cooperation between China and ASEAN countries, as China is ASEAN's largest trade partner and ASEAN is China's third largest trade partner. In the past 25 years, especially the past 10 years, we have witnessed the rapid development of China-ASEAN cooperation, which has yielded win-win results. We hope that China's development can help drive the economy of all ASEAN countries.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue relations and a related summit will be held in the presiding country of Laos in Vientiane this September. China and ASEAN state leaders will attend the summit and we hope that the cooperation can be enhanced and deepened through the meeting and the South China Sea issue will not become an impediment. That is why the Chinese government is upholding that the South China Sea issue should be resolved through the process of the DOC and shall not impede bilateral cooperation. We hope that ASEAN countries will work together with China towards this destination.