RITU AGARWAL

KUNMING CONSENSUS: BRIDGING NEW CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CHINA AND ASIA

(A view from China–South and Southeast Asia Think Tank Forum, Kunming)

Author: Dr. Ritu Agarwal

Publisher: Research Centre for Eastern and North Eastern Regional Studies, Kolkata (CENERS-K)

INTRODUCTION

The China–South and Southeast Asia Think Tank Forum was held in Kunming on July 3–5 with an agenda of ‘Building a closer community with a shared future’. It was the 11th consecutive year the forum was held in Kunming, bringing the city back into focus as a bridge between China and the Global South. Kunming has been designated as a political, economic, and cultural centre and the transportation hub of the provincial economy. It is also one of the important cities preserving historical sites and cultural relics, making it a major tourist destination. In August 1990, the 5th Congress of the CPC in Yunnan Province first proposed that strengthening friendly exchanges and economic cooperation with Southeast and South Asian countries would be a key point of Yunnan’s government work. Since then, opening to Southeast Asia and South Asia has become a focus for Yunnan, and it has established a comprehensive transportation network centred on Kunming, expanding to other cities via highways, railways, and aviation.

Recently, the State Council officially approved the “Kunming City Territorial Spatial Master Plan (2021–2035)”, which plans to transform Kunming into a regional central city facing South Asia and Southeast Asia. During Xi Jinping’s three visits to Yunnan in recent years, he emphasised that Yunnan has been endowed with the significant positioning of “a demonstration zone for national unity and progress, a pioneer in ecological civilisation construction, and a radiation centre facing South and Southeast Asia.” Thus, Yunnan has been projected from time to time as a pivot to neighbouring countries in Asia. This forum and many others, such as the China and Global South Media Forum and the China–South Asia Expo, further highlight the national consensus to make Yunnan an Asian hub for cultural and economic ties between China and Asia.

FORUM PROCEEDINGS AND OBJECTIVES

The organisers of the forum were the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, in collaboration with the Global South Think Tanks Alliance. It was during the BRICS Plus leaders’ dialogue in Kazan, Russia, that Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China would take the lead in establishing the Global South Think Tank Alliance to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges and mutual learning on governance among countries. It was established to enhance policy communication among countries in the Global South and to facilitate diverse forms of people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

The main theme of the forum was implementing the four Global Initiatives:

Global Development Initiative (GDI)
Global Security Initiative (GSI)
Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI)
Global Governance Initiative

Holding the China–South Asia Think Tank Forum for all these years has attracted a large number of scholars and government policymakers to Kunming. It has emerged as a hub of Asian connectivity through trade, commerce, and cultural exchanges, thus carrying forward neighbourly relations to a new level. It was a very well-attended event in Kunming, with more than 100 political heavyweights, scholars, and business representatives from 18 countries attending, including participants from South and Southeast Asia, as well as scholars from other Chinese provinces and within Yunnan. The main focus was on fostering new cooperation by creating a new model of regional modernisation across countries in Asia.

Apart from the opening speech by the President of the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, there were initial remarks by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Yunnan Provincial Committee on the need to identify Asian wisdom for global governance. They emphasised Yunnan’s achievements in building new networks along the ASEAN and Indian Ocean economies. Now, given the volatile geopolitical situation, there is a need for a self-reliant model of economic modernisation by linking the Mekong and ASEAN free trade areas to countries across the Indian Ocean region.

There has also been an emphasis on promoting people-to-people exchanges through social media platforms, trade, and tourism, as well as establishing regular mechanisms to build connections between China and Asian countries. Since development is the central slogan of global governance, Fujian and Xiamen have been projected as models of development not only to promote sister-city partnerships, but also to foster new friendships through local networks. It was also emphasised that countries in the Global South should take the lead by becoming the narrators of their development concerns and setting their own development agenda.

THE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (GDI) & THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The Global Development Initiative, as proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, is projected as a transformative force, aiming to promote connectivity and cooperation across continents and the global community. It presents an alternative view of the need for new multilateralism and development initiatives to promote economic growth and regional integration. The eight priorities that the GDI focuses on are:

Poverty alleviation
Food security
Attention to COVID-19 and vaccines
Financing for development
Industrialisation
The digital economy
Connectivity
Sustainable development

As the central concept of the GDI is development, it seeks to contribute to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, setting out priorities for cooperation and an inclusive approach toward development. Shared prosperity can be achieved by addressing regional interdependence and fostering partnerships across countries toward a shared goal.

Defining the Global South

One of the important themes of discussion was the idea of what constitutes the Global South:

What criteria should be applied to demarcate countries in the Global South category—geographical, identity-based, or their roles in creating an alternative world order to the West?
Do these countries share a common identity of being non-Western, post-colonial, and anti-hegemonic in nature?
Why is there a renewed interest in the Global South (revival, rebranding, or realignment)?
What is the nature of Asian solidarity among these countries (brotherhood, equality in facing similar struggles, or South-South cooperation)?
How will these countries be strategically mobilised, and will there be power competition for leadership among them while small states form new alliances?
Above all, countries in the Global South share common concerns about geopolitical volatility and shared future vulnerabilities, raising questions about the role of regional institutions in shaping bilateral and multilateral partnerships.

Sino-South Asian Economic Interdependence

Secondly, the discussion highlighted how China and South Asia are becoming such interdependent economies that it is difficult to think of a global system without exploring these new partnerships. The need for regional cooperation was emphasised due to factors determining South Asia’s industrial dependency on China. While India and Bangladesh rely heavily on Chinese inputs (even for finished products), for other countries in the region, China has become the main exporter of Electric Vehicles (EVs), construction equipment, and maritime vessels. Chinese investment in South Asia has focused primarily on the primary sector, infrastructure, energy, technology apps, power generation projects, and logistics. Besides, there is a human dimension to this trade dependence in terms of students, travellers, and people-to-people cultural contacts built up significantly in recent years.

PARALLEL PANELS AND THE YUNNAN MODEL

Simultaneous parallel panels on the four global initiatives echoed the need to create a common platform for discussing regional concerns, highlighting cooperation, and reviewing Asian countries’ experiences in obtaining relief, aid, and poverty alleviation assistance from China. Thus, discussions emphasised China’s contribution toward building a shared community and explored new ways of cooperation between China and the Global South as an alternative to the existing world order.

1. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) & The Kunming–Laos Railway

Papers on the theme of the ‘Global Development Initiative’ largely examined how the BRI presents an opportunity for neighbouring economies in South and Southeast Asia. Among South Asian countries, established historical connections with China can be upgraded to technical cooperation, disaster relief, and crisis management.

A key policy outcome paper focused on the high-speed Kunming–Laos Railway, which seeks to address livelihood opportunities for poverty-stricken counties along the route. Mohan, once a remote town in Yunnan bordering Laos, has transformed into a booming international land port. Since the China–Laos Railway commenced operations in December 2021, it has supported rapid development and smooth logistics. The 1,035-kilometre line running between Kunming and Vientiane (Laos) exits China via Mohan port.

In May 2022, Mohan was placed under the trusteeship of the provincial capital Kunming, transforming the border town into an international port and creating stable conditions for investment and international cooperation. Laos previously had the largest number of poor counties and highest poverty rate among ASEAN nations. In 2021, Khammanh Bounteyne (Minister of the President’s Office of Laos) noted that China’s poverty alleviation success offers actionable plans for developing nations like Laos. Field studies in the region reported marked improvements in livelihood patterns across different occupations.

2. Implementation of GDI: Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, and South Asia

Another set of presentations discussed the implementation of the GDI citing Brunei, which joined the initiative in 2022 as its 72nd member. Bilateral contracts—such as the petroleum agreement between Hengyi and the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB)—focused on solar investment and green development. In addition, the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area 3.0 upgraded protocol was signed (a multilateral agreement separate from the GDI and BRI).

Chinese corporate and BRI-era capital has been investing in renewables, EVs, and digital infrastructure across ASEAN's varied landscape:

Indonesia: BYD electric vehicles;
Laos: Railways;
Brunei: Hengyi Industries (the largest overseas investment by a private Chinese enterprise and the largest FDI in Brunei, focused on petrochemicals);
Thailand: On July 4, BYD inaugurated its Thailand plant, producing its 8 millionth new energy vehicle in Rayong.

Brunei serves as an interesting model of a diversified financing mix (sovereign, Islamic, and Chinese capital) trending toward deeper regional cooperation. In South Asia, Nepal and Pakistan were projected as examples of successful collaboration models with China. Furthermore, the papers suggested that India and China, as the oldest civilisations, could build a partnership through mutual trust and economic trade. Thus, most papers presented at the panel emphasised the Yunnan Model as a vehicle for regional modernisation and cross-cultural connection.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Ritu Agarwal is an Associate Professor at the Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She holds a Ph.D. in Chinese Studies from the University of Delhi. Her research interests include rural political economy, urbanisation, property rights, gender studies, and provincial politics. Dr. Agarwal studied Mandarin Chinese at Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing. She has been a Visiting Scholar at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, Kunming, and a Visiting Fellow at Yunnan University and Yunnan Minzu University. Her latest edited book is titled ‘The Border Province Reimagined: Yunnan’s Economic and Cultural Ties to Asia’ (2026).

Kunming Consensus: Bridging New Connections between China and Asia