(L-R) Malaysia's Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, Myanmar's Union Minister for International Cooperation Kyaw Tin, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Philippines' Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin Jr, Laos' Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, Brunei's Second Minister of Foreign Affairs Erywan Yusof, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi shake hands on stage at a summit between China and ASEAN on the novel coronavirus in Vientiane on Feb 20, 2020. (DENE-HERN CHEN/AFP)

VIENTIANE - China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) vowed here Thursday to strengthen cooperation in fighting the novel coronavirus outbreak by sharing information and best practice in time and reduce impact of the epidemic on socio-economic development of affected countries.

The two sides made the commitment in a statement issued after a special meeting of the foreign ministers of ASEAN countries and China held in Vientiane on Thursday.

The ministers expressed full confidence in China's abilities to succeed in overcoming the epidemic and commended all frontline fighters against the disease

The ministers emphasized in the statement the growing urgency and need for cooperation in COVID-19 surveillance, prevention, detection and control, given the fact that ASEAN and China have close links and are each other's major tourist destinations with an annual travel flow of over 65 million visits, and China being the largest trading partner of ASEAN while ASEAN is the second largest trading partner of China.

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The ministers recognized ASEAN and China's decisive measures to address COVID-19 through prompt sharing of information and other significant efforts to contain the epidemic and to protect regional and global public health security, according to the statement.

They expressed full confidence in China's abilities to succeed in overcoming the epidemic and commended all frontline fighters against the disease, as China appreciated the sympathy support and assistance offered by ASEAN member states to its response efforts.

The ministers agreed to step up the regional cooperation against COVID-19 by sharing information and best practices in a timely manner, including exchanging available epidemiological information, technical guidelines and solutions for epidemic prevention and control, diagnosis, treatment and surveillance, according to the statement.

In a long run, the ministers agreed to enhance capacity to prevent and control emerging and re-emerging infectious and communicable diseases, and engage in exchanges of relevant data and technology and personal training.

On the economic front, the statement said that support will be given to enterprises affected by the epidemic, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), including through promotion of digital economy to facilitate economic activity during epidemics and make full use of the ASEAN-China Year of Digital Economy Cooperation.

In addition, the ministers committed to reducing the impact of the epidemic on the economic and social development of all affected countries, jointly maintaining people-to-people exchanges, trade and investment activities in the region.

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The special meeting was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin. ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi also attended the meeting

Under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, 1.4 billion Chinese people have united to fight the virus, Chinese Foreign MInister Wang Yi said

During the meeting, Wang elaborated on the strong measures taken and the remarkable results achieved by China to battle the epidemic.

Under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, 1.4 billion Chinese people have united to fight the virus, Wang said.

China has adopted the most comprehensive, the most stringent and the most thorough preventive measures to establish a prevention system that is effectively stopping the disease from spreading, Wang said.

The measures, implemented with the "China speed", have bought time for promptly saving patients and allowed the world to properly respond to the outbreak, showing China's role as a responsible major country, he said.

"We firmly believe that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and with the country's strong mobilizing ability, its system advantage and the overall national strength, China has the ability and confidence to completely defeat the epidemic as soon as possible," Wang said.

Founded in 1967, ASEAN currently groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.