China and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday encouraged a business-led cooperation on production capacity to promote economic development through industrial upgrading.

The move aims to complement the production and consumption needs of the two sides so as to achieve sustainable development and shared prosperity.

In a joint statement adopted here at the 19th China-ASEAN leaders' meeting and the summit to commemorate the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations, the two sides emphasized cooperation on highly-complementary sectors based on their respective priorities, comparative advantages, and levels of development.

Meanwhile, the two sides also recognized the importance of capacity building, taking into account the different needs of ASEAN member states on production capacity practices.

Affirming the business' leading role in undertaking the cooperation, the two sides said such cooperation will be guided by market conditions, and could be conducted through various ways and means, including trade, investment, projects as well as economic and trade zones in accordance with internationally accepted business principles and practices as well as domestic laws and regulations.

Furthermore, China and ASEAN will support the cooperation by facilitating exchange of information on relevant policies so as to create a favorable business and investment environment for production capacity cooperation.

In the statement, the two sides encouraged the active role of research institutions, including think-tanks, and other knowledge partners through, among others, joint research on production capacity cooperation and offer policy recommendations that meet the national interests of ASEAN member states and China. Endit