This photo shows the launching site of the East Coast Rail Link project, a mega rail project in Malaysia being built by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), in Kuantan, Malaysia on Dec. 11, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

Over the past decade, Asia has stood out as a robust engine of global growth. Despite stiff headwinds from mounting protectionism and geopolitical tensions, much of the region has remained remarkably stable and prosperous.

One of the cornerstones of this stability is China's deepening partnership and win-win cooperation with regional economies, particularly with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a model of constructive engagement that contrasts sharply with zero-sum policies.

Over the past few decades, China and ASEAN have upheld equality and mutual respect, lifting their ties from dialogue relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Pivotal to the progress in recent years is the alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with ASEAN nations' development strategies. Cross-border infrastructure projects -- spanning transport, energy and digital networks -- have strengthened regional connectivity, spurred green growth, and laid the groundwork for an integrated, sustainable economy.

The initiative's synergy with ASEAN's development blueprints has been catalytic. From Malaysia's under-construction East Coast Rail Link to Cambodia's Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, connectivity projects have slashed logistics costs and boosted intra-ASEAN trade.

Meanwhile, the landmark Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), encompassing about 30 percent of global GDP, has driven measurable progress over the past three years since its inception.

According to a study conducted by the Asian Development Bank, RCEP is expected to increase the member economies' income by 0.6 percent by 2030, adding 245 billion U.S. dollars annually to regional income and 2.8 million jobs to regional employment.

As the largest economy in RCEP, China has all along been active in working with other members to make this inclusive trade pact a success. Beijing's commitment to trade liberalization and open markets has laid a solid foundation for the mutually beneficial partnership.

With the substantive negotiations completed in 2024 on version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, the China-ASEAN cooperation paradigm is expected to further promote free trade, multilateralism and fairer economic globalization.

Amid sweeping changes reshaping the global landscape, Asia now finds itself at a critical juncture. Protectionism is on the rise and unilateralism runs rampant. However, peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit remain the common aspirations of people in Asia.

While dissonant voices from outside the region have sought to sow discord and disrupt the momentum of growth and integration, Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, has largely brushed aside such ploys, choosing cooperation over confrontation.

China, for its part, will uphold the Asian values of peace, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and pursue the Asian security model that features sharing weal and woe, seeking common ground while shelving differences, and prioritizing dialogue and consultation, reaffirmed a recent central conference on work related to neighboring countries.

It is always China's firm belief that Asian countries are not "chess pieces" in a geopolitical contest, but crucial "chess players" who will help drive development and prosperity across the region and beyond.

In a world afflicted with growing instability and uncertainty, Asia's unity in promoting common prosperity stands as a telling example of what win-win cooperation based on mutual, shared interests and a clear-eyed vision for the future can achieve.