China and ASEAN on November 22 agreed to elevatetheir ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership， asChinese President Xi Jinping attended and chaired a special summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations via video link.

“This is a new milestone in the history of our relations and will inject new impetus into the peace， stability， prosperityand development of our region and the world，”Xi said，commenting on the partnership with ASEAN.

The summit was co-chaired by Haji Hassanal Bolkiah， the Sultan of Brunei， who is also the ASEAN chairman for 2021.China-ASEAN dialogue relations have gone through an extraordinary journey over the past three decades， Xi said.

“These 30 years have witnessed intensive developmentof economic globalization and profound changes in theinternational landscape. These 30 years have also seenChina and ASEAN seizing opportunities of the times andachieving leapfrog development in our relations，”he noted.

“We have explored a bright path of good-neighborliness and win-win cooperation， taken strides toward building acloser community with a shared future and made important contribution to the cause of human progress，”Xi said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Pledges to Promote Ties with Vietnam

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on December 2 called on China and Vietnam to promote the sustained， healthy and stable development of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation.

Wang made the remarks during a meeting in China with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son. He said this year is very important for the development of bilateralrelations， and the two sides should follow the consensus reached by the top leadersof the two parties and the two countries and work together to promote the sustained，healthy and stable development of the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategicpartnership of cooperation.

Bui Thanh Son said Vietnam has always supported China to play a greater role in the international affairs. The two sides agreed to strengthen political leadership， deepenmutually beneficial cooperation， and enhance cooperation on fighting the pandemic.

China， Laos Education Forum Aims for Higher Education Cooperation

The 4th China-ASEAN （China-Laos） Higher Education Cooperation Forum was held on November 26 in Nanning， south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang AutonomousRegion， and the Lao national capital city of Vientiane.

The event took place both online and offline， focusing on higher educationcooperation between China and Laos. SaykhongSaynasine， director general of the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Education and Sportsof Laos， said via video link that Laos and China have achieved comprehensivecooperation. He added that bilateral education cooperation has also developed by leaps and bounds in recent years.

“This forum is very suitable for discussions on forming the mechanism andassessing possibilities to recognize digital learning， exchange informationand knowledge， and utilize technology to promote cooperation in highereducation，”saidOudomPhonekhampheng， president of the National University of Laos.

Travel Between Malaysia， Singapore Resumes as VTL Kicks Off

Singapore and Malaysia on November 29 reopened their shared land borders， allowing vaccinated travelers to cross after nearly two years of being shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob made his first official visit toSingapore as premier the same day. As part of his visit， Ismail witnessed the launch of the Vaccinated Travel Lane （VTL） between Singapore and Malaysia togetherwith Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The much-anticipated land VTL will allow up to 1，440 travellers from each side to cross the land border each day without quarantine， if they hold citizenship，permanent residency or long-term visas in the destination country.

However， travelers must test negative for COVID-19 before departure， and Malaysia also requires travelers to get an on-arrival test， a move Singaporefollowed on November 28 over concerns over the Omicron variant.