By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Malaysia from Thursday to Friday to attend various ASEAN related meetings, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
The top diplomat will attend the China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
“China firmly upholds ASEAN centrality, stands ready to steadily advance the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 upgrade, and foster an even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future,” Mao Ning told a news conference.
Mao said China is eager to collaborate with Asian countries to “uphold true multilateralism and open regionalism and defend free trade and the multilateral trading system.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will also attend some ASEAN meetings in the Malaysian capital. It was not clear, however, whether he will meet his Chinese counterpart.