Despite being overshadowed by President Donald Trump’s tour of the Gulf states a week earlier, the ASEAN–GCC–China Summit on 27 May 2025 in Kuala Lumpur was symbolically significant. The first-ever meeting between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
the Gulf Cooperation Council and China emphasised a shared commitment to a ‘rules-based multilateral […] open global trading system’, deeper cooperation and a unified position on the Israel–Palestine conflict. With a combined GDP of nearly US$25 trillion and a total population of 2.15 billion, ASEAN, the GCC and China would potentially constitute a hefty coalition.
Speaking at the 22nd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore a few days later, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim suggested the purpose of the summit was to ‘connect ASEAN’s energy and talent with the Gulf’s capital and China’s scale’. However, translating the political and economic ambitions declared at the summit into concrete progress is likely to remain challenging.
Symbolic significance The brainchild of Ibrahim, whose country is chairing ASEAN in 2025, the summit was symbolic for multiple reasons. Against the backdrop of President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs and withdrawal from international organisations and agreements – including the World Health Organization, the UN Human Rights Council,
UNESCO and the Paris climate accords – the trilateral commitment to rules-based multilateralism acquires added significance. It aligns with China’s attempts to portray itself as a responsible global power committed to the multilateral rules-based system, in contrast to Trump’s MAGA nationalist movement in the US. The summit followed the completion of ASEAN–China FTA 3.0 negotiations, the second update of their 2002 free-trade agreement, now including the digital and green economies. It also marked the official launch of FTA negotiations between the GCC and Malaysia.
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