On May 24, 2013, the ASEAN Regional Forum Senior Officials Meeting (ARF SOM) was held in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei, drawing high-ranking officials from 27 member states including the 10 ASEAN countries, China, the United States, Russia, India, Japan, and South Korea. Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin attended the meeting as head of the Chinese delegation.

The meeting reviewed the development of the forum, discussed and endorsed 12 new cooperation initiatives in such fields as disaster reduction and relief, maritime security, and cyber security. Participants at the meeting agreed that as the most influential and inclusive platform for official security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, the forum has played an important role in enhancing political mutual trust and promoting security cooperation among countries in the region in the past 20 years since its establishment. Currently, the security situation in the Asia-Pacific is stable on the whole, though it is also confronted with a number of challenges and problems. All sides should join their efforts to consolidate and deepen mutual trust, create new areas of pragmatic cooperation, and make greater contribution to the lasting peace in the region. The meeting lauded Brunei and China for their contributions to promoting the development of the forum as co-chairs of the 2012-2013 meetings of the forum.

In his speech, Liu Zhenmin said that China has long been committed to promoting the development of the forum. And in accordance with the principles of ASEAN centrality, seeking agreement through consultation, and accommodating the comfort level of all parties concerned, China proposes to continue to deepen measures to build trust, and, on the basis of consensus, steadily promote the formation of preventive diplomacy that is in line with local characteristics. China is ready to work together with all sides to uphold the new security concept featuring common security and cooperative security, bolster pragmatic cooperation in the field of non-traditional security, and create conditions for the forum to play a bigger role in maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.