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Xi Jinping took the chance to push for greater digital unity among Southeast Asian nations in a recorded keynote at the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, China, on Friday.
- The Chinese president said he would work towards greater cooperation among the 10 ASEAN nations, and promote a “digital Silk Road” in the region, according to the South China Morning Post.
- The speech comes in an apparent attempt to strengthen China's position locally, after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said he would work with regional allies to take on China's might.
- Xi said “China regards ASEN as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy and a key area for high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative” – a major infrastructure and economic development project underway since 2013.
- The bloc could work with China to establish a “China-Asean digital port to promote digital connectivity, and build a ‘digital Silk Road’,” the president said.
- So far there is no suggestion that the digitization proposal would use blockchain underpinnings, but Xi has previously touted the technology across the Chinese economy.
- According to the report, China has been trying to build closer ties with ASEAN countries – which include the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia – amid the trade war that developed under Donald Trump.
- ASEAN members were not initially universally keen on Xi’s proposed digital Silk Road, according to an international relations expert cited in the report.
