At the 21st ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Plus Three Consultations held in August 2018, the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Ministers agreed to carry out a Joint Study on “10+3 Cooperation for Improvement of Supply Chain Connectivity (SCC)”. ASEAN and the Plus Three countries (i.e., China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, or CJK) announced the launch of the Joint Study at the sidelines of the 21st APT Summit in November 2018, and appointed research institutions the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), respectively to undertake the Joint Study.

Early this year, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) broke out, disrupting supply chains, ways of life, and working norms, including in ASEAN and the Plus Three (APT) countries. Recognizing the need to address the challenges posed by COVID-19, a Special ASEAN Plus Three Summit on COVID-19 was convened through a video conference on 14 April 2020. The Joint Statement of the Special ASEAN Plus Three Summit on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)1 highlighted the need for the ASEAN Plus Three Countries to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of regional supply chains, and to maintain supply chain connectivity in this time of crisis and uncertainty.