ASEAN's Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi on Tuesday hailed the poverty relief exchanges between China and ASEAN nations as crucial for the regional body to recover from the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The recovery is complicated by factors such as rapid urbanization, demographic shifts and climate change, he said in a video speech at the 15th ASEAN-China Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction.

The global outbreak of the novel coronavirus is reversing the poverty-curbing progress made by Southeast Asian countries over the past decades, and people in the region are at "heightened risk to fall back into deeper poverty", Dato Lim Jock Hoi told the annual forum, which opened on Tuesday in Beijing.

He argued that fortifying partnership and forging ahead with optimism are the only ways for ASEAN members and their Chinese counterparts to recover from the pandemic.

"To realize such a goal, sustaining partnership at all levels is indispensable," he said.

The secretary-general said ASEAN countries have "learned tremendously from China's success in eradicating poverty" thanks to the meaningful exchanges on development policies and strategies at all levels over the past 30 years, adding that China's success in ending domestic poverty early this year is an inspiration for countries wishing to follow suit.

The forum is organized by the National Rural Vitalization Administration, International Poverty Reduction Center in China, ASEAN Secretariat and the United Nations Development Program. It has been held in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines.

Wang Zhengpu, head of the administration, said the forum was created to usher in high-level exchanges, institutional interaction and practical cooperation.

The forum has become a key regional platform for dialogues and a treasure trove of wisdom for solving problems of the time over the past 15 years. The forum's fruits have also strengthened people-to-people bonds between China and ASEAN, he said.

Wang said China stands ready to work with ASEAN and beyond to give full play to the role of the forum. "Maintaining close exchanges and pragmatic cooperation, we invite more friends to join us in the cause of building a better and more prosperous tomorrow."