Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

China-ASEAN technology cooperation is gaining momentum in fields that will shape long-term competitiveness. A recent report by the Guangxi International Communication Center highlighted an example from Thailand, where the Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences has collaborated with the Guangxi-ASEAN Technology Transfer Center for nearly a decade. The partnership now emphasizes the development of artificial intelligence (AI) companies and the cultivation of skilled talent. This development illustrates how collaboration is evolving from general research links toward targeted efforts in frontier technologies.

These efforts reflect the durability of China-ASEAN technological cooperation, which derives its strength from pragmatic and complementary goals. For ASEAN economies, access to Chinese expertise, investment, and markets comes at a moment when digitalization is transforming entire industries. This not only accelerates the transfer of advanced know-how but also helps local firms integrate more deeply into regional innovation chains. For China, such partnerships provide channels for technology transfer while fostering tighter links between its own innovation ecosystem and that of ASEAN.

Rather than symbolic gestures, these arrangements show why China-ASEAN cooperation has continued to expand even against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty. The framework is built on practical incentives that lower risks, spur innovation, and deliver tangible benefits to both sides. In that sense, the oft-cited principle of "win-win cooperation" functions not as a slogan but as an operative formula for sustained progress.

Media reports note that over the past decade, China and ASEAN have expanded their technological engagement across multiple levels and an increasingly diverse range of fields. Numerous cooperation agreements have been concluded, spanning green technologies, traditional medicine, the digital economy, modern agriculture, and aquaculture. This breadth shows that the partnership is not confined to headline sectors such as AI, but extends into areas that deliver immediate development gains while building long-term value for the region.

Technology innovation is adding new momentum to China-ASEAN cooperation, and both sides have even greater room to expand collaboration further. 

First, China's large digital market and its steady opening-up offer ASEAN-based digital firms the scope to expand their presence. At the same time, ASEAN's fast-developing digital economy has become an important destination for Chinese enterprises looking abroad. With e-commerce, financial technology, and digital services growing quickly in Southeast Asia, both sides see clear benefits from closer digital links.

Second, there is complementarity in the green economy. China and ASEAN are working to deepen cooperation in green manufacturing, sustainable products, and low-carbon applications. Joint efforts to build low-carbon supply chains and promote clean technologies can help both sides pursue domestic sustainability goals while keeping pace with global environmental requirements.

Third, agriculture has long been a regular topic in China-ASEAN cooperation. The ongoing benefits of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the growth of cross-border e-commerce in agricultural products are adding new momentum. Collaboration in crop cultivation, aquaculture, and related technologies continues to deepen, with direct relevance to food security and rural development.

Taken together, these areas - along with other avenues of cooperation - reflect the practical priorities of both economies and provide fresh momentum for growth on each side. This also helps explain why, despite the challenges that often accompany international technology partnerships, China and ASEAN have been able to sustain progress: their engagement rests on mutual benefit and shared economic interests.

At a time when certain countries resort to technological restrictions and export controls, global supply chains face unnecessary disruptions. Such measures may create short-term pressure, but in the long run they risk isolating those who impose them. Against this backdrop, cross-border technological cooperation retains its resilience because it is grounded in mutual benefit rather than zero-sum competition.

China-ASEAN cooperation illustrates this logic. From talent training to joint research, many of these efforts resemble the planting of a tree, with roots that deepen over time. It is this steady, long-term approach that allows both sides to share the rewards of innovation and ensures that technology becomes a source of shared growth rather than division.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn