Chheng Kimlong: Three Key Steps to Strengthen ASEAN-China Blue Economy Cooperation
Chheng Kimlong, President of the Asian Vision Institute in Cambodia. He also serves as Advisor to the President of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia and as a member of the Trade Policy Advisory Board and the National Council of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Royal Government of Cambodia. He previously served as Vice-Chairman of the Advisory Council of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
China-ASEAN blue economy cooperation encompasses many key areas, including trade and shipping, tourism, marine resources, knowledge exchange in ecological governance through tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big-data analytics, and human resource development through capacity building and the transfer of technical knowledge. These areas are strongly aligned with national priorities and international development frameworks, including the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Pact for the Future adopted at the 2024 UN Summit of the Future.
On this basis, I would like to put forward several considerations for deepening China-ASEAN cooperation on the blue economy.
Prioritize Peace and Cooperation over Provocation and Confrontation
Neither armed conflict nor confrontation in other forms delivers meaningful economic gains. Prolonged or widening conflict risks accelerating geopolitical fragmentation. It may also prompt a reassessment of projected productivity gains from AI and trigger a renewed escalation of trade tensions. Together, these pressures would weaken economic growth and destabilize financial markets. The effects would spread across the wider society, eroding private investors’ appetite for risk. Key downside risks include a slowdown in growth, the possibility of recession, and reduced fiscal resilience among governments.
War and conflict are economically costly and contribute little to sustainable economic development. While they may lead to higher expenditure in the short term, such spending tends to be concentrated in a narrow range of industries. It does not strengthen the broader base of the economy and cannot sustain long-term growth. The greater priority should be to close gaps in infrastructure and digital connectivity, strengthen logistics and transport networks, and improve customs procedures and trade facilitation. Further progress is also needed in improving the institutional framework for business and investment, advancing human development, protecting environmental and ecological integrity, and promoting social justice.
Pursue Deeper and More Comprehensive Integration in Trade, Investment, Tourism, and Maritime Cooperation
At the global level, greater strategic integration is required across industry, services, and resource sectors. In maritime affairs, cooperation should be founded on friendship, practical collaboration, and a rules-based international legal framework. This is essential to keeping maritime routes open and ensuring maritime safety and security. Freedom of navigation is fundamental to regional and transregional economic security. The relevant framework should not be shaped around the economic interests of any one country, but should instead support a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable partnership architecture.
Artificial maritime chokepoints and bottlenecks should therefore not be created in the name of security, and policy barriers should likewise be avoided. In the broader context of international relations and development, treating an ever-expanding range of issues primarily through a security lens can generate substantial and multidimensional costs over the long term.
Adapt National Economic Policies to a Changing Global Environment
Countries need to pursue macroeconomic stabilization measures which encompass monetary policy, inflation management, labor market adjustment, fiscal and debt restructuring, international financing, and adaptive restructuring of domestic industries and services. The objective is to rebuild economic resilience. Blue economy and innovation strategies should also form part of this policy response. Robotics, AI, and digital technologies can help maintain and strengthen the resilience and sustainability of production, enhance blue economy security, and reinforce supply chains against climate shocks and geopolitical disruption.
Overall, the governance architecture for cross-border marine resources needs to be redesigned. The outlook for the global economy will depend in part on our ability to use research, development, and investment to translate technology and innovation into higher macroeconomic efficiency. It will also depend on efficiency gains from a blue economy that extends across maritime and continental boundaries.
The Hainan Free Trade Port creates considerable opportunities for national and regional development. Version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization framework all offer practical pathways for sustaining development cooperation amid geopolitical headwinds and mounting geosecurity challenges.
At the same time, think tanks, academic institutions, research organizations, and policymaking bodies require greater support and stronger capacity to deepen the exchange of ideas and develop more substantive partnerships. I therefore propose creating an ASEAN-China Think Tank Network devoted to research and the exchange of ideas on the ASEAN-China blue economy partnership. A dedicated coordination office should be established alongside the network to connect participating institutions and provide administrative and operational support.
* This article is jointly published with the authorization of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
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