A cold-chain express train loaded with 875 tons of agricultural products leaves from Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on June 26, 2023. China has remained the largest trading partner of ASEAN from January to May, official data showed. Photo: VCG

 
China has exchanged views and reached broad consensus with Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand on deepening security intelligence cooperation after China's Minister of State Security Chen Yixin made visits at the invitation of the three countries and held talks with senior officials from November 2 to Saturday.

In addition to separately meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, Chen also held talks with high-level officials from Cambodia's National Information Technology Center, Vietnam's Public Security Ministry and Thailand's National Intelligence Agency, according to information released by the Chinese Ministry of State Security on Monday.

During the respective meetings in Cambodia, the two sides emphasized the need to deepen pragmatic cooperation in security intelligence to better preserve social stability in China and Cambodia, and promote public well-being.

China and Vietnam also vowed to further strengthen pragmatic security intelligence cooperation to make a greater contribution to the two countries' national security and help upgrade and enhance bilateral relations. Both China and Thailand see cooperation in security intelligence as an important aspect of deepening bilateral relations, and both want to jointly ensure the safety of overseas projects, institutions, and personnel of both countries.

Chen also visited Chinese enterprises and projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the three countries.

Cooperation in various aspects has been deepened among China and ASEAN members. From mid-November to late November, China will hold a joint military exercise with five Southeast Asian countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, in Zhanjiang, South China's Guangdong Province for the Aman Youyi-2023 (Peace and Friendship-2023) multilateral drills, China's Ministry of National Defense said on Sunday.

Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong and Vietnamese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu held the meeting between heads of the government-level negotiation delegation on border issues in Hanoi on Thursday. The two countries held in-depth exchanges of views on China-Vietnam relations, territorial border and maritime issues in a candid and friendly atmosphere. The two sides have ensured that the border and maritime situation remains stable and under control, and speak highly of the progress made in port gate opening and upgrading and infrastructure connectivity.

The security intelligence cooperation and the joint military exercise reflected the further deepened political mutual trust and closer integration of interests between China and Southeast Asian countries, Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

Xu said Chen's visit is related to cross-border crime, especially telecom fraud, a closely watched issue that not only affects people in China but also harms the tourism industry in Southeast Asian countries.

Security and development have continued to enhance relations between China and Southeast Asian countries, as Southeast Asia is where Chinese enterprises first headed to and flagship projects under BRI were implemented, Xu said.