Asean 1 Summit begins, PM Najib leads Malaysian delegation

Asean Malaysia National Secretariat director-general Jojie Samuel said the session would be conducted in retreat format whereby the leaders would have a closed session and frank and constructive discussions on external relations and Asean's future direction.

"The Asean leaders will also exchange views on regional and international issues," he told Malaysian reporters, here.

Samuel said the Asean + 1 Summits would also begin today with the convening of the 19th Asean-China Summit to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Asean-China Dialogue Relations.

"Given the significance of the 25th anniversary of the Asean-China dialogue relation, the Asean-China Summit this year will convene a special ceremony to mark the occasion," he said.

In addition to this, he said, the leaders were also expected to have constructive discussion on the Asean-China cooperation throughout its 25 years of cooperation and its future direction.

He also said that during the session, the leaders were expected to adopt a Joint Statement on the 19th Asean-China Summit on commemoration of the 25th Asean-China Dialogue Relations.

"The Asean-China Summit will also be adopting the Joint Statement between Asean and China on Production Capacity Cooperation, Joint Statement on the Application of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea in the South China Sea and the Guidelines for the hotline communication among Senior Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Asean member states and China in response to maritime emergencies in implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of parties in the South China Sea," he added.