As the epidemic spreads globally, the virus has unnoticeably broken out in Southeast Asia. It has severely impacted the production, lifestyle and consumption of the region, with tourism, retail trading and other services suffering the most. With a large number of employees sacked and regional economic growth restrained, some locals, especially the poor, live a very hard life.

The epidemic in Southeast Asia has tended to ease since May. Many countries have begun to reassess epidemic prevention and control and gradually loosened restrictions, striving to resume production and guarantee people's livelihoods. Some experts attributed the good signs shown in epidemic prevention and control in Southeast Asian countries to many countries' timely and strict measures of social distancing, curfews, and closure of business premises in the early stages of the epidemic, which greatly reduced the single-day number of new confirmed cases. ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea have demonstrated the spirit of sticking together through thick and thin and helping each other in anti-epidemic cooperation, and have made great contributions to the regional fight against the epidemic. 

What are the characteristics of the development of the epidemic in Southeast Asia? What is unique about the response measures? What are the contents of cooperation between ASEAN and neighboring countries to fight the epidemic? How will it inspire other regions to fight the epidemic? 

This workshop invited four scholars and experts — former Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Hu Zhengyue; Research Fellow of the Institution of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Xu Liping; Professor of PKU's School of Public Health Chang Chun; and Associate Professor of the Beijing Foreign Studies University Song Qingrun — to discuss the aforementioned issues from multiple aspects, including politics, economics, society, history, culture and public health.