China has called on Southeast Asian nations not to let "suspicions" threaten their growing relationship, saying disputes surrounding the South China Sea have been manipulated by a few countries to "poison" and "undermine" their role in the region.
Speaking at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forum in Jakarta on Friday, China was keen to stress its growing economic ties with the region, which last year boasted a trade relationship worth $US452 billion ($A584 billion).
"China has been ASEAN's biggest trading partner for eight consecutive years," said China's, ambassador to ASEAN, Xu Bu.
But while trade is improving, he said their "strategic mutual trust is being threatened by suspicions and misconceptions".
In a copy of the speech later circulated and differing from the one delivered, it stated the issue of the hotly contested waters in the South China Sea had, in recent years, been "manipulated by a few countries to poison the atmosphere of co-operation in the region and undermine China-ASEAN relations".
China is not a member of ASEAN but has been criticised for flexing its muscle at the forum, particularly around statements regarding the trading route and the country's reclamation of reefs and militarisation of islands in the waters.
In a security meeting in Singapore in June, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pointed to rising anxiety in the region on China's activities - a view echoed by US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who said they pointed to a "disregard for international law" and "contempt for other nation's interests".
In a veiled reference to these disputes, the executive director of the ASEAN Study Centre at the University of Indonesia, Dr Edy Prasetyono, said it was important countries in the region not just focus on the growing trade relationship with China.
"The economic relationship is not enough," he said.
"ASEAN and China need to explore ways to find approaches and solutions to some geopolitical and geo-strategic issues. I think this is our very difficult, very hard homework in the future."
