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(Bloomberg) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang rallied a group of Southeast Asian and Gulf states to deepen cooperation and touted his country’s economic strength, as Beijing ramps up its charm offensive abroad to counter US efforts to isolate the economy.
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“We should firmly expand regional opening up and develop a big market,” Li said at a meeting with leaders from Southeast Asia and the Middle East in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. “We should effectively manage differences in the spirit of mutual understanding.”
The inaugural joint summit offers Beijing yet another chance to sway countries caught between the world’s two largest economies. Li’s visit to Southeast Asia comes on the heel of President Xi Jinping’s tour last month, when he called for a united Asian family in an apparent effort to counter US containment.
“Countries of the three sides are at different stages of development, yet we should not let these differences stand in a way of our cooperation, but transform them into complementary strength that we can harness,” China’s No. 2 said.
In a separate speech in the evening, Li said the Chinese economy remains resilience despite external challenges. The official vowed greater policy support for expanding consumption, which he said would raise demand for products globally.
Southeast Asia was hit with steep tariffs by Trump earlier this year, as Washington accused them of assisting with transshipment of cheap Chinese goods into the US. Asean and Gulf states also stand out as the Trump administration is hoping to ensure that companies building data centers in these countries don’t use Chinese AI hardware.
During Trump’s whirlwind trip to the Middle East earlier this month, Washington announced deals to ship tens of thousands — and likely upwards of a million — advanced Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. chips to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Both Xi and Li chose to visit Malaysia, underscoring the nation’s increasing importance to Beijing.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later said Asean continued to engage with both the US and China and was not tilted toward any particular country.
“What’s the Asean position? It’s centrality. Where’s the focus? Welfare, well-being of all people, economic relations, trade, investments. So if it means working with the Chinese, yes, we’ll do. The United States, yes, we have to,” Anwar said in a briefing at the end of the summit.